Wedding Season is near!!!

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I have been out-of-town this week for work, working late hours, so I haven’t really been able to post this week.  I’m not in a cool city.  I’m in a city where it was 80s on Monday, 20s and snowing (REALLY?!?!!  It’s May!!!) on Wednesday, and 60s today.  Yes, I’ve gotten to experience almost every season this week.  Crazy weather!  I’m so happy to head back to sunny and warm California today!  Plus I get to see baby girl and hubs.  I miss them!!!  Anyhow, I want to share something with you that holds a special place in my heart.

Wedding season is near.  I’m sure all brides-to-be have pinned a TON of  ideas on Pinterest.  Some DIY, some ideas in concept.  DIY weddings have been pretty big for quite some time.  For the hubs and I, we did a lot of things ourselves when we tied the knot (Save the Dates, invitations, menus, programs, and monogram – he designed those being the graphic design minor that he is and wanting to add his personal touch- wedding trailers and slideshow, etc.).  It’s a great way to save money and add a personal touch to your wedding day that you and your future Mr or Mrs and your guests can enjoy.  Just be weary not to take on too many DIY projects.  I’m not going to sit here and give you all the DIY ideas that we did for our wedding because some of our wedding ideas were from Weddingbee, StyleMePretty, (well the templates we used.  but the designs were our own his.) and other wedding websites.  We didn’t know about Pinterest until the year after the wedding.  Hmph!  Oh well.

The one DIY project I will share with you that I thought was such a great touch to our wedding was our wedding trailers.  We still mailed out save the dates and our invitations but on these we told our guests to go to our website to check for updates and so forth.  When they went to our website, they were linked to our wedding videos on YouTube.  It was basically a multimedia Save The Date if you may.  My husband learned iMovie and Adobe Premier (by playing around with the applications and by watching YouTube tutorials) and created videos for everyone to enjoy.  It was his idea and I still loved that he came up with it.  It was different.  It was fun.  It was US!

Here are our two wedding videos.  Yes, my acting needs TONS of work.  :-P

The first wedding trailer is to announce our engagement slash Save the Date.  I LOVE this song!  The handwriting in the video is my husband.  Like I mentioned he watch tutorials on how to add that into the video.

This next trailer was released a couple of months before our wedding.  This one was more playful but trying to tell a story at the same time.  We’re trying to tell a story about traveling for work (which btw this story isn’t 100% true to life) but it’s more so about being the silly yet fun couple we are (at least in our eyes).  This video gets a bit “sexy/steamy” during some parts, so if you’re easily offended by sexiness, I suggest you turn away.

Here are our tips for making a successful wedding trailer.  For us, our wedding trailers were almost like music videos that conveyed a story and showing our love for one another, as opposed to some Q&A wedding trailers (which I think is perfectly fine).  We left the details of how we met and how our love blossomed (teehee. corny choice of words, but true) on our wedding website.

  1. Create a story board.  Be creative.  The hubs (who is the creative brains of our family) thought of a story he wanted to tell in each wedding trailer.  During this brainstorming process, decide if you want to go with a funny theme or romantic or something else.  
  2. Show case your relationship and love.  I’m not saying be lovey dovey (which is ok too) but show your fun and personal sides.  Your guests are already happy that you two are tying the knot, but make them be even happier.  Make them believe that LOVE is a possibility (corny, I know, but I LOVE love.  I love it when people fall in love and share their love story with others.  I’m a hopeless romantic!  Ok, let me stop).  Make them believe that true LOVE exists (Let me stop with the cornyness.  But I just LOVE weddings!)
  3. Enlist a friend to help film while you’re in front of the camera.  If friends aren’t available, think about your location and if a tripod would be suitable to use.
  4. If where you two met or live or where you’ll be getting married is special to you, show case it in your video.  We weren’t able to film where we met (we met in college), but we filmed our second video in San Francisco.  Our family and friends on the east coast got a glimpse of our “backyard.”
  5. Tape as many scenes if you can (if memory card space isn’t an issue).  In addition, tape all those scenes multiple times if you can.  It’s better to go with more scenes when editing than less.  Take lots of B-roll as they say in the film industry (okay they may not actually say that, but I was trying to be cool.  :-P )
  6. Pick a background song that conveys the same message.
  7. Let loose and have fun.  Smile!  You’re only a couple of days/weeks/months away to spending the rest of your life with the person you love the most.  :-)

If you don’t want to opt to do the DIY route, you could also hire a videographer or photographer or film director to help you do this.  If you do, I suggest you work with them to add your personal spin and touch to the video.  Make sure they capture you as a couple and your love for one another.

If you’d like me to share other wedding DIY ideas in a future post, comment below!  If you have more questions about this post or other wedding DIY ideas, send me an email, message me via twitter or comment below! 

Happy wedding season!

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

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Since the fall, I have been in LOVE LOVE LOVE with brussels sprouts.  I was like the masses and was intimidated by the vegetable.  You have the horrid 60′s or 70′s image of the mushy bitter smelly vegetable.  For some reason, my conception of brussels sprouts before were based on reruns of Leave it to Beaver (which I’d watch with my mom when I was younger).

But within the last 2-3 years, it’s been a bit of a trendy vegetable, much like kale.  So last fall, when they were selling some at Trader Joe’s, I put it in my basket to try it out.  Of course, I cooked it the way I do most vegetables that I’m trying out for the first time, simply roasting them with olive oil, salt and pepper.  AMAZING!  Why hadn’t I tried this before (Oh yeah!  Brussels sprouts are pretty foreign to asians, so my mom didn’t add them to our dinners growing up.)?  I even got my mom and sister hooked.  Even my sister’s boyfriend gave them a whirl when I made them for Thanksgiving.  He was quite pleased with the results.  He never had brussels sprouts before because his mom hated them as a child.  Next I tried adding balsamic vinegar or mustard vinaigrette or parmesan cheese (but cheese makes everything butter so that was a no brainer).  Still delicious.  I made them into chips, similar to Kale chips.  I roasted them as well as fried them.  Such a tasty snack.  Then I thought about trying it raw.  A couple of bloggers were sharing their recipes for shaved brussels sprout salad, so I figured I’d try it.  It was DELICIOUS.  It’s almost like a slaw and this southern girl LOVES her slaw.

For this recipe, I added avocado for creaminess and mustard and vinegar for tang.  I also added quinoa for some protein (plus I had some that I needed to use up).  I wish I had a bowl right now to gobble up.  Minus the shaving or thinly cutting of the brussels sprouts, this recipe is SO easy to make!

Note:  I don’t give exact measurements for this recipe, as I made the salad for one.  Plus I make my dressings more on the low fat side (more vinegar than oil) than others.  But as a general rule of thumb when making vinaigrettes,  its 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar.  The mustard is for creaminess, extra tang, and to help emulsify the dressing.  TheKtchn has a great guide on how to make your own vinaigrette at home.  I’m a huge fan of making your own dressing because 1) you have the ingredients at home 2) it’s much much much healthier (can’t stress this enough) for you because you know exactly the quality of the ingredients and fat content of what you’re putting into your food.  

SHAVED BRUSSELS SPROUTS SALAD

INGREDIENTS

Brussels sprouts, shaved or thinly sliced
Avocados
Cranberries (optional)
Almonds (optional)
Quinoa (optional)
Dijon Mustard
Vinegar
Olive oil
Sugar
Salt and Pepper, for seasoning

DIRECTIONS

In a food processor or bowl, take your avocado, mustard, vinegar and olive oil and mix the ingredients together.  If you don’t have a food processor and are using a bowl, you’ll want to mash the avocado to smooth creamy consistency before adding the other ingredients.  When it is a smooth texture, add a small amount of sugar to balance out the tang of the vinegar and mustard.  Then season with salt and pepper to your liking.  If needed, add more of an ingredient to your liking.

In a bowl, place the brussels sprouts, cranberries, almonds, and quinoa.  If you’d like more avocado, cube some up and add it to the mixture at this time (p.s. I’m so excited for avocado season!!!  So happy Eva loves it as much as me!).  Then add the dressing and gently toss to combine all the ingredients together.

What vegetables have you tried and loved as an adult, but received a bad rap or didn’t like it as a child?  I love trying new vegetables and fruits, especially since the farmers market is opening soon.  Comment below about what non-typical vegetables or fruits you’re a fan of, how you prepare it, etc.  I’d love to try it!

The Dressing Room – Maxed out

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I used to live in dresses before having Eva.  Now because I have to bend over to pick her up or help her walk, I’ve swapped my beloved dresses for pants or shorts (which of course are a respectable length).  That is, until I rediscovered my maxi dresses, which were tucked away amongst mine and Eva’s clothes (The three of us share a closet.  It’s brutal.   I try to stay organized and rotate clothes based on season but sometimes, it’s exhausting.  LOL!).  I was upset with myself that I didn’t think about these dresses sooner.  It’s such a baby-friendly outfit (a go-to momiform even).  A maxi dress (At an appropriate length.  We, petite girls, need to have it hemmed unless you wear heels, which isn’t always ideal when totting kids around) is an easy quick outfit to put on and comfortable too.  If it’s cool out, pair it with a denim jacket (like I have below. loving the denim trend right now.) or a leather jacket (love that edgy meets boho chic look when paired with a maxi) or a cropped cardigan.  I say cropped cardigan because of how loose and flowy a maxi dress is.  Pairing it with a boyfriend cardigan can swallow your frame, especially for petite girls.  If it’s warm, pair it with a denim vest (which I just nabbed recently during a trip to Marshalls.  I’ve been searching for one for a while!) or a lightly somewhat loose crocheted top or an light scarf (a la Jessica Alba) or just the maxi itself.

When I was younger and the maxi dress/skirt was in style at the time (late 90s), I stayed away from the trend because I was told “You’re short.  You’re going to look even shorter.”  ”The fabric is going to swallow your frame.”  For petite girls, all these statements can be true.  However, the secret, as in all things fashion related, to not looking shorter is fit!  How wide is the skirt?  If you cut off the length, will it affect the shape of the dress?  If you don’t get it hemmed, then commit to wearing the dress with heels.  The extra fabric with flats may look sloppy and swallow your frame.  After I saw petite celebrities, such as Eva Longoria, wearing maxi dresses, I knew that if they could wear these dresses and not look ridiculously short and frumpy, then I could too.  I purchased basic colors first then moved on to prints.  Prints can be tricky though.  You have to select one that won’t overwhelm your frame.  When in doubt, take a picture of you in your outfit in the mirror (Selfies anyone?  :-P).  Silly but it works!!!

THE DRESSING ROOM OUTFIT

Dress:  Forever21
Jacket:  Uniqlo
Watch:  Michael Kors (last seen here)

Roll up your sleeves for that casual chic look.

Ready to play with baby girl at the playground.  

Photos by Laurie