Wedding and vacation wrap-up - yippy!

Hello hello. My apologies for the late post as I have received quite a few messages from folks asking how was the wedding, when will my blog be updated, where are the photos, when is the reception again, where are you registered, and...was Elvis at your wedding?

Reception reminder - September 6, 2008. Those who were invited should know where and when, if not email Jonell...we are registered at Macy's and Sur La Table...and no Elvis was not at the wedding.

The wedding itself was awesome. Short and sweet just the way we wanted it. Before I dive into it, let me start from the beginning of the Las Vegas-Vancouver-Port Angeles adventure.

LAS VEGAS, NV
Wednesday, August 13:
Chris and I hop in the car, drive excitedly to the Green Bug lot (aka SeaTac Parking), get on the plane and all that jazz. I love flying because it gives me a chance to use my ipod iTouch for movies so I enjoyed Trading Places (IMO one of the best comedies of all time ever!). One of Chris's friends from Yakima was taking the same flight as us so we waited for him once we deboarded the plane and it was off to the Venetian. Our room...was huge. And fancy. It had two separate bathrooms and the master bathroom was as big as my living room (if not larger). The room had a wet bar - sadly not stocked. And a 10' round table. We ended up having dinner that night with Chris's friends at the Delmonico steakhouse in the Venetian. It was delicious and of course over the top.

Thursday, August 14:
We had a 9am tandem massage appointment at the Venetian's Spa. Now I have been to many a hotel spa in my lifetime, never have I been in one so HUGE nor swanky. This place kicks all other spas' asses and thensome. I talked with a hostess and she said that they are making the spa even BIGGER even though it has over 90 rooms. After the massages Chris got a break while I had my nails done. We had a small break and we met up with Johanna, Mark, and my parents and had some chinese lunch at the Venetian's asian noodle restaurant (forget the name right now, but it doesn't really matter - does it?), then it was off to the rehearsal. I thought the rehearsal was just right around 20 minutes but my Dad seemed to think that it should been longer. Again another break where we had to rush down to meet the wedding gown and suit cleaners - they only took cash and demanded we meet them in-person to receive items even though I was told more than once that the clothing could have been left with the bellhop and that we could pay via credit card... can you tell that that irked me only slightly?? (haha)

Another small irk was at 6pm we had a reservation at the Venetian's Grand Lux Cafe for all of us to eat together -- but they would not seat us until everyone was present and they were going to cancel our reservation! I was on my cell phone trying to get a hold of all of the late people - luckily the hostess felt sorry for me and seated us without our entire party being on time... I am laughing about the whole thing now because it just seemed so stupid, but believe me at the time I was pretty irked. After a huge rehearsal dinner we went to see Wayne Brady with Karen, Phyllis, Jennifer, and Grandma. Wayne Brady - please stick with your improv-only routines as your singing was a bit much. Overall a good show though and it was fun!

Friday, August 15:
The BIG day has arrived. We have breakfast and then I proceed to spend 90 minutes in the salon getting my hair put-up and my make-up airbrushed on. Very exciting indeed. Johanna and Heather were nice enough to meet me early and help me get dressed. We walked over to the chapel which is in the Venezia Tower (a resort within a resort if you will) and I got to wait in the bridal room, but it ended up being that almost everyone at some point came into the room and chit-chatted with me for a while. I have to admit that I wasn't really nervous until I was left all alone for a few minutes - then I could feel my heart beating faster and I had that big-exam-I'm-going-to-hurl-feeling that quickly went away because Johanna came back in to wish me luck and gave me a hug (thanks!).

The ceremony itself was very short like I preluded to and we wanted it that way. Pastor Steve did a great job of being an easy-go-lucky guy and had a great sense of humor. After the ceremony we started the picture taking. NOTE the photos are password protected, email Jonell for the URLs to the albums and the passwords.

After much picture taking we had about 45 minutes to run back to the room, cool down, change and then head downstairs for the most incredible Italian meal I have had to date (sorry Mrs. Roberts, your cooking is outstanding too!). We had a huge meal at B&B Ristorante -- a Mario Batali restaurant in the Venetian. You may read one of my many pre-wedding posts for the exact menu; it was tremendous. The pork chop was SOOOOO good. Well, everything was good so I am not sure how else to describe it other than -- it was dang tasty. After dinner a bunch of us sat in our huge room and watched the Olympics -- because we are all obsessed with them. BTW, I miss the Olympics, but that in itself is another post.

Saturday, August 16:
We slept in and then went to our photography appointment which was suppost to start promptly at 11am. We arrive with a few minutes to spare and it was quickly apparently that Mr. and Mrs. Bridezilla (another couple) were going to run long and into our appointment. While Chris was giving the photography salesperson the evil stink-eye, someone finally got her attention and she let us at least sit down and look at our photos. I stepped out of the appointment briefly to talk to Johanna and Mark during which the salesperson apparently apologized profusely to Chris. I wish I had heard her doing so because it was rather rude of her to make us wait 20 minutes. In the end we ended up purchasing all of the digitals - which is great since we wanted the rights to reproduce and we are in the process right now of putting together a slide show which will be seen by those of you attending the reception.

After our appointment we spent a few hours with Marc and Tina and their two little ones. I thought it would be best to visit and have a room-service lunch since the kiddos may not like sitting in a restaurant. Boy was I ever right - the kids needed space to run around and just be kids. We said good-bye to them and then we hung out with Johanna and Mark for a while. We met up with Joe, Andrew, and Heather and had the glorious Wynn buffet for dinner. My stomach still hurts from thinking about it! We said good-bye to Johanna and Mark, and then the rest of us went and saw the Beatles LOVE show at the Mirage. It was by far the best Cirque Du Soleil show I have seen in Las Vegas to date. Thanks Joe!

Sunday, August 17:
Basically flying home, unpacking, laundry, repacking.

VANCOUVER, BC
Monday, August 18:
A fast and fun drive up to Vancouver, BC. We checked into the Pan Pacific and had a great dinner at the hotel's restaurant - The Five Sails. If you enjoy gourmet food - particularly seafood, lamb, and duck at roughly $35-$45/entree prices - you need to go The Five Sails. This place is a hidden gem. The views from the tables first of all are fantastic - you get to see Grouse Mountain, the Lions Gate Bridge, a floating Chevron station, the future international broadcasting center for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and a huge cruise ship if you are lucky. And since it is Vancouver it isn't ultra-shiek. Gore-tex loving, fleece and track-suit wearing, jeans with button-up shirt kind of people are Vanouverites. The food is also something that is such a pleasure to enjoy. By now I think we have had 2/3 of their menu and as always - delicious. I had the duck and Chris I believe had the lamb.

Tuesday, August 19:
We did our usual walking around Robson St. routine. We found one of those souvenir shops and got ourselves some Olympics stuff. I got a fleece, a curling pin with the cute mascots on it, and a magnet. Chris got some commemorative Canadian coins. You know the Canadian Mint is so much cooler than the US Mint. I highly doubt our government would ever consider printing coins that celebrate anything other than dead people. For dinner we had a reservation at the elusive Tojo's. First let me say that we thought about trying this place when we saw it featured on Anthony Bourdain's show from the travel channel. There was an episode where he went to Vancouver and he just went on and on about how he hated nature but he LOVED his friend's restaurant, Tojo's. So after some online scoping we said "why the heck not". Second if you are familiar with the Seinfeld episode with the soup nazi - I think that episode was based on someone like Tojo.

We walked into Tojo's and immediately I was impressed with the detail put into the interior design - the restaurant's ceiling panels slope with the shape of the building and you don't feel like this is a normal Japanese restaurant. Tojo approaches us and basically tells us "I tell you what to do, when to eat what with what, everything I make I invented - no copies, all original". We proceed to eat his version of omakase which IMO consisted of too many cooked entrees and not enough sushi or sashimi creations. Do not get me wrong - what he served us was in fact delicious and scrumptious and very ingenious. I just don't know if the whole meal (for two people now) was worth the $500+ Canadian we spent. Overall a good meal and I am glad that we went to try it out.

Wednesday, August 20:
We went on a new adventure to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary - just about a 20 minute drive out of Vancouver. This place is awesome and I cannot wait to go back. First it is very reasonable - I believe it was less than $10 Canadian for us to enter the park. Second you can buy a HUGE bag of bird feed - which BTW came in extremely handy - for only $.50 Canadian. The sanctuary is huge and extremely private and quiet. The most exciting birds we saw also decided to hunt us down. The red-headed Sandhill Cranes were extremely aggressive and there were warning signs all over saying such. On our stroll they found us -- and if it were not for the bird feed I am almost certain they would have found us more interesting than anything else. As Chris describes it - there is a scene in Jurassic Park where the velasoraptors are running after the fat computer guy whom I'll call Newman. The birds ran JUST like the velasoraptors.

After a break at the hotel we had dinner at C Restaurant. C has quickly become one of our favorite places to go when we can afford it. The times we have gone we have only had the wine-pairing dinner - which is a 6 course meal with 6 wines. Roughly $300+ Canadian for the both of us and extremely wonderful. My friend who is also a professional caterer, Char -- has also expressed her liking for the great C Restaurant. I encourage you to go to their website and look at their menu - exquisite.

Thursday, August 21:
Grouse Mountain was the destination of the day. We almost did not go because the weather looked like it was not going to clear up, but we went anyway. Not much had changed since either of us had gone up last although there is a new Lumberjack Show which I thought was pretty nifty. We got some great photos (I don't have those yet) of all of Vancouver once the skies cleared up.

We had planned to go to yet another elusive Vancouver establishment - the Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar -- and after some discussion we decided to not try it out this time and went back to The Five Sails where I had the halibut and Chris enjoyed "the catch" which was sablefish with maine lobster and prawns. We had the same server as from our first night in town and she was great fun as she shared her own favorites of Vancouver.

PORT ANGELES, WA
Friday, August 22:
We had to stop in Richmond, BC at Sun Sui Wah for dim sum. The new find was a dish that had pea vines supposidly with shrimp cake paste wrapped in a rice wrapper and fried in the shape of a pouch. Sounds weird I know but it was really quite good. Then I could not leave Canada without another Tim Horton's double-double so we hit up the Tim's in White Rock before crossing the border. Have I mentioned that I LOVE the NEXUS card? (haha)

We found our way to the Keystone ferry dock on Whidbey Island and after a ferry ride, drove from Port Townsend to Port Angeles, or PA as the locals call it. We checked into Domaine Madeleine Bed & Breakfast - our favorite place in the PA area to stay. The Ming Suite was delightful as always - Jeri had the mattress and the deck replaced so it was definitely spiffied up yet still felt like a home-away-from-home as it is very familiar to us. We had dinner at Michael's Divine Dining and we found out Michael was our server for the evening! The food and hospitality was superb and we could not have asked for a more comforting meal. I had the chicken marsala and Chris enjoyed the pork chop. For dessert Michael served us quite literally 2 pints of homemade boysenberry sorbet. Yum.

Saturday, August 23:
Jeri and her son Shawn served up an awesome 5 course breakfast (see the website if you don't believe me). Afterwards we spent the day at Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge aka Dungeness Spit. It was high-tide so there was not way we were going to walk the 5.5 miles to the lighthouse; however, we did see some seals, seagulls and other birds about. It turned out to be a gorgeous day and we both got sun-kissed on the cheeks.

Toga's International Cuisine was our decision for supper. Normally we may have opted to go to Victor's aka Sabai Thai, but we had just been there in July so Toga's it was. It was definitely not disappointing -- just really filling! Jeri was kind enough to stop by the restaurant earlier in the day and bought us a bottle of wine to go with our meal. Chris had a steak and I had the beef stroganoff. Again very good and so dangerously filling.

Sunday, August 24th:
After another breakfast we leave PA to encounter 2 hours of sitting on 101 - car accident and traffic was at a standstill. We got home around 530pm to yet another Sunday of laundry and catching up on emails.

And if you are still reading, congratulations, you deserve a quick picture (haha) preview:

Again ALL the photos are password protected, email Jonell for the URLs to the albums and the passwords.

Days people, days!

I am feeling the excitement. In one week I will be getting all primped and readied to walk down the aisle and get married. In fact in exactly one week, I will be getting my hair done at the Venetian's salon (being that at the time of my writing this entry it is approximately 11am)...

But who is counting? ME! I finally got all of the "who is going to do what while I am out of the office" stuff straightened just yesterday. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but most of the hold up was out of my control and thought-process. I constantly remind myself that how things get done around where I work now is a LOT different than where I used to work. It makes me grateful that I had such awesome connections and friendships at my previous employment. Where I am now is fantastic - it is just that I am still "the new kid" around these parts so it takes some adjustment for everyone.

What has been happening...I feel like I have been to the hair salon more often than anything else. Deep conditioning, practice run-throughs of hair and make-up, hair trims, hair color, brow work, etc. One of the stylists at the salon I go to said to me yesterday "You know I see you more often than any of my regular clients, is that funny or what?". I call it expensive yet worth-while investment into getting married.

We have received gifts and they have all been wonderful. Been trying to keep up with writing the thank yous and letters as needed. All that is left to do is pack. I have even already made arrangements for the cleaning and deliveries between Vegas and Seattle. Admittedly I am giving William the benefit of the wedding season, but we have yet to actually finalize the "look" of the wedding cakes for September. We will probably hook up with William about that after Vegas -- hoping for the weekend of August 30...

Speaking of things with the number 30 - my brother's 30th birthday is coming up very soon. We are going to celebrate by going out to dinner this weekend. I am really glad that we are doing this because I did not want his birthday to be overshadowed by all of this wedding hoopla. I know he is excited for me - my personal view though is that it isn't every day you turn a milestone year! Happy Birthday Jody!

And yes...DAYS....counting down the DAYS...

Whiz Boom Bam!

This past weekend was the 4th of July and for once it did not rain in Seattle! We went over to my parents where my Dad yet again cooked enough food for 40 people - somehow all 19 of us managed to consume most of what was prepared. Smaller turn out this year but only because not all of the extended family showed up. It feels like every year there are more things to eat and later on more things to light up and watch explode. All in all it was great fun for everyone. We did not get home until almost midnight in which I immediately took 2 Aleve and went to sleep. Every year I tell myself to take the day after the 4th off and I never do - well this year I did not have to since the 4th fell on a Friday.

The rest of the weekend we spent with the Lees; Saturday we traveled to Poulsbo to see Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Lowell's house (in the process of still being built and finished...), then we decided to travel to Port Angeles to eat at Sabai Thai. SOOOOOOOo good and so worth the drive. Sunday we met up at 99 Ranch and enjoyed some Chinese lunch and did some shopping.

We are still very much enjoying the Blendtec Blender - it definitely blends. I am glancing at a calendar right now and today is July 8th. 5 weeks away is the big date in Las Vegas. Only 5 weeks!

T-minus 2 months and counting...

Ah yes...the invitations are FINALLY in the mail. We got all of the paper work done last weekend, but I didn't get around to stuffing and labeling until yesterday. Chris is still waiting to hear from some people about their addresses which is unfortunate because they will have less time to ponder and send back the response card, oh well such is life.

The weekend was great, lots of rest and trying to watch squirrels hack into our new bird feeders (those squirrels are clever). Yesterday was Father's Day and we went to my parents house for dinner and a short visit.

We have to make some time to go to the mall and pick up the suit - apparently all of the alterations are done. Speaking of new clothes I guess my Dad actually went out and bought new clothes (yes, people it is true - when I realized this my jaw was just as low as yours is right now) for the wedding. New pants, new sports jacket, new shirt, new tie - the whole thing. I am impressed that he took so much initiative. It reminds me that I need to scan the only photo I have of my Dad in clothing that isn't overalls and post it to my site -- just so people can see that my Dad has worn something other than overalls.

Anyway like I said it was a good weekend. This week is proving to be busy both in work and socially. I can't believe that it is less than 2 months before the Las Vegas sha-bang. Eeeeeeeeeeee!

Almost there...

It's been a while since my last entry so I won't waste any more time.

Wedding Updates:
- Chris got a suit, he decided to go to Nordstroms and not the Men's Warehouse to get a fine all black Hugo Boss suit; single pleat pants with all the fixings I suppose. I admit that I don't know a lot about Men's clothing let alone suits, but the salesperson was really nice (thanks Sam!) and the suit will be fantastic. Sam was nice enough to do a pre-sale slip for us since the Men's Half-Yearly sale starts on Friday - we get the sale price! The suit should be all tailored and ready for pick-up in a couple weeks.
- Invitations...has taken up a few hours of our weekend. Everything is done except Chris is waiting to get all of his addresses; once obtained we will print out labels, stuff envelopes and be good to go. All of the other items are ready we just need those addresses. If Chris has sent you an email asking for your address, please reply -- please. I REALLY want to get these invitations in the mail.
- Cake...we have our second tasting scheduled for June 17th - just about a week away.
- Florist...will finalize total centerpieces needed once RSVPs from yet-to-be-sent invitations come back to us.
- Salty's...same as florist stuff.

I think that is it. Other stuff - work has been going well, the weather has been not so bad for Seattle. We have managed to get out during the weekends to take walks and photos (Zoo, Aquarium, random parks in Everett and West Seattle, the Arboretum). Joe and I have been trying to learn Bridge with some fellow curlers and so far, Bridge is hard!! I am trying my best but it is a lot harder than it looks IMO because there are so many things to keep track of. With more practice the easier it will become.

I have been trying to keep up with my friends from Avanade and have been somewhat successful considering that we don't work together anymore. I saw Shawn and Krista for happy hour on Friday, I am hoping to have lunch with the newly employed Rusty on Wednesday, another happy hour with Silvina and Charlie on Friday, and perhaps some drinks and snacks with Patti and Lindsay on Saturday. What a busy week! I should try to squeeze in some work while I'm at it. (haha).

Our Engagement Photo session is this coming Saturday as well. Let's hope for some good weather! Luckily it is in West Seattle, so we may all have to treat ourselves to the world's best almond croissant from Bakery Nouveau...mmmmm.......

T-minus 3 months and counting (wedding stuff)

I know that some of you have been wanting a real wedding and reception planning update entry so here I go!

Las Vegas (ceremony/wedding) update - the only things left to even remotely think about are salon appointments, gown and tuxedo pressing, and waiting for the minister and photographer to call me. I can't book the salon until 30-days out and I figured at that time I would call the gown and tuxedo pressing place. According to our event planner, the Venetian appointed minister and photographer will be calling me about 14-days out. We have our room and flights booked. We have our rehearsal appointment set, we have a limo set for our round-trip adventure to Las Vegas City Hall to obtain a marriage license. We have our post-ceremony dinner planned. I even have some fun events already to do - mainly that I am seeing LOVE at The Mirage.

Seattle (reception/party) update - we met with the bakery (see previous post about Bakery Nouveau), I have already talked with the florist. I have a new hair stylist who I absolutely love and she will be doing hair and make-up. We have a hotel room booked and a photographer who is also super. My dress is in my house along with all of the accessories. Chris still needs to get a tuxedo and we have to still finalize everything with Salty's, but will do that after we send out and receive RSVP cards.

So you're probably wondering when we are going to send out the invitations. We have everything in terms of supplies ready to go - so I think we will get them done the weekend of June 7-8. There are minor things that need to be done like getting all of the address labels formatted (should only take an hour at most), stamps, but we are good to go.

Now for those who want all of the details...
Hair/Make-up: for those that know me I am not a super girly-girl and am rather low-maintenance 99% of the time. I figured though that getting married is a once in a lifetime kind of thing so I have been investing a lot of my time and resources into hair and make-up. A co-worker suggested a stylist by the name of Heather Price and so far Heather has been FABULOUS. Heather works out of cutz in Wallingford, and it has been a lot of fun getting to know her - plus her rates aren't tremendously expensive (IMO). I have established monthly appointments with her to make sure my hair is in tip-top shape for August and September. For the reception/party she will be coming to our hotel room and getting me ready on-site. I am WAY excited as she will definitely take care of me so I don't need to stress about looking good.

Food in Las Vegas: we decided to go to the Venetian's B&B Ristorante for the post-ceremony meal and we are having a custom 4-course meal - very fun. We will be having the following:
Antipasti (2) - B&B Salumi with Fiddleheads, Marinated Fresh Anchovies with Radish and Fennel
Primi (1) - Goat Cheese Tortelloni with Dried Orange and Wild Fennel Pollen
Secondi (3) - Grilled Pork Chop with Seckel Pear, Cipollini, and Vin Cotto, Spicy Two Minute Calamari Sicilian Lifeguard Style, Brasato al Barolo with Horseradish Gremolata
Dolci (2) - Sbrisolona with Spicy Caramel Poached Cara Cara Oranges and Creme Fraiche, Cioccolato with Bourbon Caramel and Vanilla Bean Gelato

...We are still planning on having a very informal psuedo-rehearsal dinner the evening of August 14th at the Venetian's Grand Lux Cafe. Again those of you are who going to Vegas with us will receive separate information personally.

Food in Seattle: I have an appointment to finalize everything with Salty's in early August.

Gown: I had my final fitting on May 9th - fits like a glove (seriously) so I guess I'd better pay attention to all of those fun summer alcoholic drinks I like - can anyone say diet sprite and pineapple rum? Mmmm...

Rings: Should be ready by June!

Cake: see previous posting...but perhaps I forgot to mention that we are getting free delivery since Salty's is so close to the bakery. I need to schedule a second tasting with William, but not until June.

Flowers: I had a visit with the Admiral/West Seattle Metropolitan Market floral department back in mid April. Since the reception/party isn't attached to a ceremony on the same day, the floral department said that this is just a regular party - so less complicated in terms of contracts. We will have a variety of centerpieces and I specifically said I didn't want them to match - I think it will be more fun that way.

I don't know if there are any other updates that are needed. The biggest things still "to do" are tuxedo stuff, finalizing stuff with Salty's, invitations...oh and figuring out what kind of a "short" honeymoon we will take the week of August 18th. Probably just to Canada and back.

Next big adventure clock will start after September 6th -- house buying!!!! Stay tuned...

Bakery Nouveau is HEAVENLY

Last night was deliciousness beyond imagination. Joe and Heather came over and we all carpooled to Bakery Nouveau (http://www.bakerynouveau.com/). Jody joined us 10 minutes into the tasting. OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS GUMDROPS was it delicious.

Walking into Bakery Nouveau you are immediately hit with what can only be described as the most delicious - sweet, buttery, and savory feelings everywhere around you. The display cases are not overfilled and are very clean (I think they must clean the crumbs after every pastry sold). Every table was filled last night, but a couple occupying a larger table saw us walk in and graciously moved to a smaller one. We sat very eager to taste what at that time had quickly become highly anticipated and unexpected. William Leaman, the head chef and owner of Bakery Nouveau greeted us with spoonfuls of his homemade lemon filling and coffees. WOW. This was tremendously good. It was tempting to eat all of it in one bite but I somehow managed to refrain from doing so. After reviewing the list of things I had scribbled out for him, William then came back with some warm-out-of-the-oven chocolate cake, immediately followed by his buttercake with lemon--and then a 64% chocolate and chocolate piece of goodness cake. After eating these treats we had more conversation and he sent us home with two fresh baguettes.

WOW. WOW. Wow. Did I mention this place is HEAVENLY? Jody packed up the left over crumbs in a sack and took them to his girlfriend.

Chris and I have decided that we will go with the buttercake which William will infuse with vanilla-simple-syrup and fill with lemon filling with fresh raspberries. We will also go with the 64% chocolate-chocolate cake. The idea is the two cakes are very different with unique tastes, sweetness and density variations, and just gorgeous colors with texture contrasts. Both will be covered in simple white buttercream, and going with my hydrangea idea, William will create them with royal icing. We will schedule a second tasting with William at that point he will have a rough sketch or sample to show us of the finish products and probably a more exact pricing point.

I kept an open mind and palette last night especially since I was still slightly miffed that it took so long to re-arrange my tasting appointment, but all has been forgiven from the taste of the lemon filling atop the buttercake. Apparently the bakery's new found success (word of mouth plus featured in this month's issue of Sunset magazine) has caused quite a stir and many solicitors have called - so now I have the inside lane directly to William and his creations. William is an artist and loves what he does (extremely modest and humble) - I loved how he talked about his previous creations; during the end of our visit he showed us some photos of finished cakes and he shared his stories behind the photos and the people who inspired the cakes. I am honored that he will be making these cakes for our marriage celebration.

I ask that you take the trip to West Seattle to 4737 California Ave SW. You will NOT regret it. Bakery Nouveau is where it is at.

Wedding Cakes

I am trying to figure out what kind of photo-ready-yet-still-edible-and-not-too-big wedding cake to order. As I sit waiting for Bakery Nouveau to call me back to hopefully reschedule our tasting appointment I have reviewed some of the photos I have collected. I am going to go with a hydrangea theme as the bouquet I am using in Las Vegas will be blue hydrangeas; I haven't been super picky about any one thing yet, and I am finding the more I look at different cakes the more specific I want to be with it. I like the idea of hydrangeas because they are friendly in appearance and come in a wide variety of colors making the cake softer in appearance...at least that is my thinking thus far.

Here are two ideas I have found - as this is a smaller just for photos-and-us-yet-still-edible-cake I am thinking 2 layers, no more than 3.





But if you want to see something completely different and freaking cool, check this out:



If you want to see more Mario Cake go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alttext/sets/72157594289496628/

I must be excited!

I haven't been able to sleep-in much past 7am for the past week. I wake up with my mind and body alert telling me to get the hell out of bed. As I haven't had any real purpose since the Gates Foundation offered me a job I ask myself why I am getting up so early in the morning; conclusion... I must be excited. You know it is amazing what one person can do before 10am on any given day, as it is also amazing what you can cram into a day when you don't have to go to work for 8 or 10 hours. I have had the chance to catch up with some friends over coffee and lunch, get more stuff done for our wedding, learned that I really enjoy Battlestar Galactica, Nordstrom Cafes are a good bang for your buck, and being home to receive deliveries is like waiting for a large pot of water to boil.

Today is my last day of sleeping in until even 7am. Tomorrow is my first day at my new job. I'm nervous only in the sense that I want so badly to start and enjoy myself. I also hope that acceptance not only as a person but also the role itself will be relatively smooth...but enough about that. I am going to try very hard to make sure that my job isn't the only thing in my life that defines me or all of my time.

Yesterday Chris and I finally got to meet the person who will be doing our wedding reception photography; her name is Deborah and she owns and operates Elizabeth and Co. She was strongly recommended to me from a friend and former co-worker (thanks again Julie!). The package we are selecting comes with an engagement session, so now Chris and I need to think of a good place and time for a photo session we weren't expecting. We both think though that the engagement session will be a good idea as it will give us photos of this time in our life where we aren't dressed in wedding attire. Late last night I was inspired to write to Metropolitan Market about the flowers and I also wrote to Bakery Nouveau about the photo-and-cut wedding cake. Jody said that Bakery Nouveau is to die for so I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask them what their prices are on a two or three layer small cake. At our reception we are going to have a photo-and-cut cake just for Chris and myself and we are having Salty's serve their oh so delicious white chocolate mousse cake (which believe me, is super delicious) to everyone else. Originally Chris and I were talking about having our photo-and-cut cake done by Borracchini's -- which is still a very strong possibility, but I figured since we are probably having everything else done in West Seattle it wouldn't hurt to check out other West Seattle based vendors just in case it is easier for them to deliver than another vendor. I was even looking at West Seattle Bed & Breakfast places for us to stay in, but after discussing this we thought it may be better to stay in a hotel and then see about getting a block of rooms on hold. We are now hoping that the Pan Pacific Seattle will be our hotel of choice for not only ourselves but our out of town guests as well. I am waiting to hear back from the market, the bakery and the hotel so we'll see!!

The Laundry List that is my life...

Since my last entry life has been so exciting. I am finally getting over this cold thing I had for the last 2+ weeks of my life so that is a definite bonus. We have been playing a lot of Wii lately which is good since we haven't played games in a while. Jody came over Wednesday and we hung out, part of our day was just yapping, then I introduced him to Wii Sports he was very quick to learn! We dined at I Love Sushi where he got up and bowed to the sushi chef - Lee Vuitton (yes that is the chef's name) - we bow to you! Anyway, we had omakase and it was delicious. Lee-san made these dishes with jalapenos and chilis - very good! After our sushi meal we headed over to West Seattle to visit a bakery then onto UVillage then Metropolitan Market. Mmmm... salumi salami.

On Thursday Chris and I were invited to my friend Patti's place to play some Wii and have lunch. So we did that and had a great time. I experienced my first Wii-related accident - see Rusty was bowling and hit the plastic bowl full of tortilla chips all over the floor...it was quite hilarious and Patti's dog had a great time eating the pieces that the vacuum cleaner didn't pick up. Afterwards we had dinner at Bush Garden with Uncle Lowell, Aunt Phyllis, and Grandma.

Since I now have employment (i.e. incoming paychecks soon) I decided to treat myself to a manicure and then to lunch with my friends Shawn and Krista. We got to eat at the Fish Club and they both enjoyed the 3-courses for $15 deal. I finished up my Friday with getting my butt kicked at curling, we lost 7-1.

Saturday we were out and about all day; first it was a trip to Pike Place to visit my eye doctor, but also to browse and we had lunch at the Pink Door. Then it was Northgate, Target, GI Joe's where we got ourselves a new Weber Charcoal BBQ, then Safeway where we got groceries for the week.

Today we went up to David's Bridal so I could have my alterations done on the dress - I get to pick everything up in May. We went to Costco "just because" and picked up a few more miscellaneous things.

As you can see, very exciting. I am glad that I am feeling better as I have 2 more weeks until I start working again. I am going to see my parents this coming week - been a long time since I have seen them due to whatnots and all that. Oh, Joe bought a new tv today with our encouragement. He got himself a 52" Sharp Aquos that will fit nicely in his new house. Costco has a good deal right now where you buy the tv online and you save $500; shipping is only $50. I personally think that is a steal. If we didn't have this thing called a wedding to pay for, then I would seriously consider buying a tv for us as well. Oh well that will come with a house hopefully. Anyway when Joe's tv arrives we will go over and help him set it up and all that. Yippy skippy!

No major updates in terms of wedding stuff. Still waiting for more headcount stuff for Vegas, we are kind of in a holding pattern until Chris knows who is coming.

I have a new job! And wedding updates...

Last night, Joe joined Chris and I in celebration of my new job! Starting March 31, 2008 I will be working for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a Program Assistant to the IT department. The job is a little bit of everything and apparently involves a lot of SharePoint, so it is a good thing that I have worked with SharePoint 2001, 2003 and 2007 quite a bit. I'm really excited and I was trying really hard not to scream into the telephone when the recruiter called me yesterday with the offer.

I'm glad that I have this opportunity to work for the Gates Foundation. I'm also glad that I get to have a few more days of time-off between jobs. I am still getting over this cold that I got over 2 weeks ago. Someone told me that it is like your body knows when it is time to get sick - did my body know that I was transitioning out of one job and into another with time off? Perhaps... since the day I knew I was leaving Avanade, my whole perspective of work in general changed. All the same it gives me more time to heal, relax, and plan more things for the wedding and reception.

Wedding update - for sure it will be August 15 at The Venetian in Las Vegas, NV. We are still working out all of the details such as the rehearsal, the music, the food, when I'm going to get my hair done, but those are minor compared to actually getting the date reserved. I am waiting to hear about who else from the Lee side will be joining; I don't want to start having conversations with the Event Coordinator and only to find out that I am working with the wrong number of guests - that is generally considered bad taste when trying to set up events that are under 30 people (trust me, I have a lot of experience with this...). We need to also book our actual hotel room at The Venetian, but we have our plane tickets already purchased ... yay! Again those of you that are invited will receive personal notification from us directly.

Reception update - for sure it will be September 6 at Salty's in West Seattle. Again, I am waiting to get a better idea of headcount before discussing menu final options with Salty's. We are meeting with a photographer in a couple weeks to see if she will work out to photograph the reception. The "cutting-picture-cake" I am not worrying about until much much later. We have decided we will probably go with the florists from a local grocery store chain called Metropolitan Market because I want smaller arrangements and every time we go to their stores -- I LOVE the arrangements; plus they deliver and have a location in West Seattle. Yay! Also did I mention that Salty's rocks? They installed new flat panel monitors with a new sound system and projector - so we are going to put together our own pictures and music. Excellent.

Dress/Tux update - I picked up my dress earlier this week and the alterations begin this Sunday. Chris hasn't been fitted yet for a tux.

Invitations update - again need to know more about overall numbers, but since Chris has already done a lot of testing with fonts and sizes with our new fancy printer, I am not the least bit concerned about the overall quality, we just need to order the stuff. I do however need to go to Mom and Dad's to get some addresses...

Rings update - I think we are looking at having them start this fairly soon, no later than the end of the month I think (they told us that the end of March is when we should give them deposit money) since we already have what we want picked out.

Everything else I believe is pretty much a done deal. Oh boy!

Venetian update and ... shoes!

Apparently the Venetian doesn't talk details with you until you wire them money. Which is fine. . . . . although I'm uncertain when I will have time to run to the bank to obtain a cashier's check (they don't accept personal checks). I will have to call and ask about how to pay via credit card tomorrow. For now though presuming all goes as planned, we are going with the Salute package with add-on photography time and extra pictures. We will follow it up with a nice dinner probably at B&B Ristorante. Then on Saturday night I will try and see if I can get a group rate for Cirque du Soleil's LOVE show at The Mirage. Again, that is the idea for now. Those of you who are joining us will get notification for certain once all is said and done - privately, not on the blog.

This brings me to wedding shoes; why because I said so and this is my blog. I know that I will need a pair of shoes that will be comfortable, easy for me to put on and take off without bending over or using my hands a great deal, and of course not too expensive. Here are some of the shoes that I contemplated and why (for those out there who could care less about shoes you can stop reading now, but please...you all love shoes):


Although these Bouquets-Alexas in Silver are nice, for some reason the angle of the shoe looks like it could dig into the top of your foot with a lot of walking. What drew me to this shoe was the wedge shape of the heel as it would provide more stability. Due to a lack of reviews on Zappos, I decided not to risk it on this particular quite yet...


What drew me to these Bouquets-Beau in White is the soft appearance of the footbed. Could it be sweaty and nasty? Yes. In the end the square-ness of the toe box made me think uh no (I know, like who is going to really be looking at my feet under my wedding dress)...plus my foot isn't terribly large and the leather on the top may in fact look odd and could be irritating.


These Bouquets-Jewels in Silver were what I thought I was going to purchase. Then I thought, do I want jewels emphasizing how wide my foot is? I mean look at the jewels - they span the entire width if not more of your foot. The plastic straps also look as though they could become untidy. I couldn't tell how flexible or rather, how much "give" the plastic straps had either.


Ah...the Bouquets-Tuxedos in Silver. Yes I know they have the plastic strap that I am unsure of the give, but I ALMOST got these - until I thought that the heel strap would annoy me or worse yet - make it difficult to take the shoes off...or heaven forbid if I'm walking around The Venetian and the strap comes off. I don't want to create a scene trying to put my shoe back on my foot...


Drumroll please. These are the shoes I ended up ordering tonight - Bouquets-Saka in Silver. The satin straps look more forgiving than the plastic ones (I could be wrong, thank goodness for free delivery and returns). The embellishment is also just enough in my opinion and the heel height - is around 2.5" which is perfect as supposidly I will need shoes that are between 2" and 3" in height. Plus the $55 price wasn't something too bad and I can see myself wearing these again somewhere.

But again, we'll see.

Dress - done!

Super Saturday! Heather came with me to David's Bridal today to help me pick out a wedding dress. This past Thursday she and I went up to the store to browse and saw a dress on the rack that we were both really liking -- on the hanger that is. I know that clothing especially dresses are a completely different story once they are on you... Back to today, we pick up Heather and Chris drops us off at David's Bridal. My consultant was shall I say -- slightly eager to make a sale. She immediately but politely said to me "you will walk out of here with a dress today". Uh huh...

I told the sales consultant what I had spotted on Thursday night, she asked some sizing information, and then she was off pulling out a bunch of other dresses. I tried on 5 dresses and ended up getting the one that I had picked out visually from Thursday night. My goal was to get a dress that was as flattering as possible for me plus not spend thousands of dollars on it. Coincidentally enough this is the same dress that Amy's friend purchased about a month ago. I figure each person makes the dress their own just by framing it on yourself. I really enjoyed the small details on this dress -- there are small pink flowers embroidered all over it and the rouching is an awesome visual effect for anyone's mid section especially my own. If you are keeping up with our wedding planning you will see a new page on our wedding site, but for those of you who just need the URL now...
http://www.chickenandcheese.org/dress.htm and here are photos as well (if you want to see the dresses that we did NOT like check out the URL)...

The dress on the hanger...



Me in the dress - flattering, no?

After we got the dress, Chris picked us up (he approved of the dress BTW) and we had lunch at Bobby's Hawaiian in Everett. On our way back south we stopped by Joe's place to check it out since he has finally moved all of his earthly belongings into his new place. After a lengthy discussion about new TVs we all ended up at Northgate -- Joe got some cool new towels from Macys and Heather got some things she needed for her trip to Europe.

We dropped Heather off and it was down to Olympia we went. We had dinner with my friends from work - thanks Karen and Kate! It was definitely a lot of fun, I appreciate the good food and camraderie.

Wedding...we still need to put a deposit at The Venetian, another for the rings, find a photographer, order the "picture cutting cake", a tuxedo for Chris, and some flowers...

Vacation, new (used) car, wedding reception - done!

This is the last day of our January vacation. One week ago from today we left for a few days to travel and spend in Port Angeles. We stayed at probably our favorite place there called Domaine Madeleine. It is a bed and breakfast with wonderful 5-course breakfasts that leave us full until 5pm. We had the extreme pleasure this trip to dine at a new place called Michael's Divine Dining -- we liked it so much we went there two nights in a row. The third night we went to Sabai Thai which is owned by Victor Posten. Jeri the owner of the BB we stayed at told us that Victor had passed away a few months ago which saddened us as he was a brilliant chef and a very generous person. The food was still delicious, but our meal was definitely missing the usual chat and visit from Victor. Apparently his widow has some friends helping out with the cooking as the restaurant seems to be doing very well. Jody joined us for this meal and I think he enjoyed himself.

The last day we were in Port Angeles, we took a detour north to Bellingham to visit the people we will be purchasing our wedding bands from (James Binnion). We had a great visit and consultation which ended up lasting over an hour to my surprise. We stopped in Arlington to dine at the O'Brien Turkey House - it was exactly what we wanted, hot food with gravy.

Let's see...where does this take me, oh yes so we arrive home late Wednesday evening and get ready for the next couple days. We are keeping our eyes out for Snoqualmie Pass updates as we were planning on heading over to Yakima, but that was not to be in our future as Mother Nature decided to dump 10' of snow (yes FEET) over the I-90 corridor...

Thursday morning, we get up and I take Chris down to the car dealership to pick up his new (used) car. The initial meeting we had with a car salesman was the Saturday prior (yes, the day before we left for Port Angeles) ended not so well -- we basically got up and left because the salesman was being overtly aggressive and rude. After we left on that rainy Saturday afternoon Chris' phone rings and it is the floor manager calling to say "we'll sell the car to you at the price you want it at"--leading us back to Thursday as that was the day Chris said he'd be in to finalize the paperwork and pick up the car. After Chris came home with his car (it is an Audi RS6 if you care) we went to the grocery store and then went to an Open House tasting session at Salty's on Alki.

Being an astute reader of my blog you are aware already that Salty's is where we would like to have our wedding reception. The Open House was a great idea and we are glad that we attended. Of course there were the obligatory vendors at the event trying to pimp their products at Salty's -- the DJ, the photographers, the tabletops people, the ice carvings, blah blah blah. This event was the first time that all of the new 2008 menu items would be served for public tasting. Surprisingly some items that you would think would be good (i.e. lobster puffs, skewered prawns and scallops with lavendar and thyme) turned out being horrible so again it is a good thing we went. We now have a draft of what we want to have on the 6th of September, so when we muster enough energy to start those discussions with Salty's catering, then we'll know more. As of now it looks as though we'll be doing one of their Reception packages slightly altered with some replacements here or some drops there - and we want to add on the carved roast beef (yum) and the chocolate fountain. OMG -- that fountain looks so cheesey because you see it everywhere at trade shows or whatever but it will be worth it. MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Also we are probably going to have Salty's serve up their "famous" white chocolate mousse cake and just order a small 2-tiered cake for "picture cutting". I can already taste that white chocolate cake in one bite, some roast beef in another, and followed up with a chocolate-covered peanut butter cookie or strawberry...and some veggies in between for good measure.

Bringing us to Friday--well again we wake up and look at the pass reports and they are still unzesty. No trip to Yakima for now, but I know it will happen some other weekend coming up. After some lounging I had a craving for a hamburger and it was off to Red Robin. One mushroom-cheeseburger, one peppercorn-bacon-cheeseburger, and two iced-teas later we were good to go. Joe just purchased his very first house so we went to Macys and purchsaed some nice housewarming items for him. Some new non-stick pans, new knives, cutting boards, and an all-purpose plastic spatula later we were carrying large heavy sacks back to the car.

Saturday (yesterday) we went and visited Joe's new place and bestowed the gifts to which he was extremely grateful. After a house tour we decided to take a driving tour and we ended up in La Conner. I know how terribly exciting. For me it is refreshing to not have to drive as I forget what it is like to be a passenger in a car sometimes. A short nap and we were magically at Central Market in Mill Creek (I LOVE Central Market, I want to live up in Mill Creek because of that store -- isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard). We came home and had an early dinner and I was hoping to go up to David's Bridal to look at wedding dresses, but the store closes at 7pm on Saturdays. Boo.

Today we took another roadtrip, this time to Leavenworth; Skykomish is still buried under mounds of snow but Stevens Pass (Highway 2) wasn't so bad. I got another opportunity to take a short nap and once again magically we were at our destination. We had a lovely German lunch at Cafe Mozart and we tried to purchase some sausages from our favorite sausage monger, Willi, but his store is closed as he is on vacation. Boo hoo! So I purchased a bag of peanut brittle and it was back to Seattle before the roads got too cold, which was a wise decision because as we were descending it had begun to snow once again.

I want to try and get myself up to David's Bridal, but both Heather and Amy are like "make sure you have a lot of time for it" so I am thinking I won't go up until Saturday morning unless I can somehow manage to get off of work early Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. I hope that they can come with me as it will be good to have a variety of opinions. Honestly I don't want to pay more than $1000 for it, I want it to look good on me and be flattering. I have no other pre-conceived ideas of what it HAS to be or what it SHOULD be. Perhaps after some dress trying-on and maybe a purchase or two we'll go to L&L Hawaiian Barbeque or even to Bobby's Hawaiian Restaurant in Everett.

No other wedding updates to my knowledge; I had coffee with Rusty right before all of my vacation and he was kind enough to pass along some photographer and florist information that he and his wife used for their daughter's wedding. I haven't had the chance to look at those two vendors quite yet, but I am very thankful for the information. Going back to the rings, we decided on a 4-color blend mainly because with the kind of work Chris does we wanted to pick something that wouldn't react too much with iodine, but also the 4-colors looks truly awesome. So lemme write out loud here...dress, photographer, florist, ring, reception -- ok... the ceremony is still in the works. I just wish that places wouldn't require such a HUGE deposit at once, but such is life. I'm not sure which deposit will be next -- rings or ceremony. I'm not worried about the dress, photography or florist. Oh registry -- I know our website says not quite ready for prime time, but they are pretty much a done deal IMO. I will try to make sure if items are discontinued to replace them with new ones as I know this is a risk I take considering the wedding is 6 months away.

Another disclaimer about our registries as I have been asked this by many people already -- "Are the items on your registry really things that you need? Or do you want money instead?" Believe it or not the items on our registries are items that we really do need, so please do not feel bad purchasing anything from them. Yes I really do want that many tablecloths and napkins from Macys and I heart towels. I heart them. Tee hee. Actually there is no "rule" that says you have to buy anything at all! The registries are available to help make your shopping life easier if you choose to bestow a gift to us, so please no hard feelings.

All the same, I have some potential talks with the Gates Foundation and the UW Libraries this week for job opportunities...very exciting times. Tomorrow is re-entry into work and it should be fun as I can't wait to see my friends at work!!

Update, update, update!

It feels like a ton has happened since I last blogged. Obviously we have been on the phone, email, updating our webpage and registries about this small thing called a wedding. I've even added a new link on the left side navigation bar (what yee little bar it is) -- so glance to the left of this page and see the new Wedding link.

Ceremony: Will be in Vegas; initially we were leaning towards Paris, but now we are probably going to go with The Venetian. The idea still is that we want to keep the chaos to a minimum and since we love our immediate family members and closest friends so much, we thought we would limit it to them. Even with a smaller party of less than 24 people it is a LOT of planning. We've only received some quotes to date, but it does look like August 15 will be it. Maybe have some fun together on the 14th, wedding stuff and a fun dinner on the 15th, see a show on the 16th, fly home on the 17th...what do you think?

Reception: More progress has been done on this than anything else so far. And before you all freak out about the September 6 date (yes yes it is a Husky or Cougar Football Saturday), it is one of very few dates we felt was appropriate to have the reception on. Plus we wanted to have the reception at a place where there is a lot of parking, air conditioning, a great view, and most important of all, a place where the food is good and we could spend time with our guests. We thought about it and it seemed that Salty's at Alki Beach would be great. They do everything - they have tables, linens, music, an on-site manager, great menus, a full bar with servers... and free cake cutting service. WOOT. We decided against having a traditional Chinese banquet/reception because it just didn't sound like as much fun or as semi-formal as we wanted the reception to be. We will probably go with Remo Borracchini's Bakery for the cake. Yum.

Dress: I've been looking at pictures on line and that's about it. Amy has been really helpful so I hope that she will come with me alongside some other people who want to go (Chris? my Mom? Heather? anyone?) with me when I finally make an appointment to go to a boutique or store. So far this is the one I like from a picture standpoint http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=2973&prodgroup=159 -- it is a whole new ballgame once you put the dress on...

Invitation: Chris went out and bought this fancy new color printer which is lightening fast. We are going to design and print our own invitations to hopefully save some money. Chris has been diligently working on the wording and making sure instructions are clear. Should be exciting once we finally gather all of the needed addresses and send all of the invitations out.

Flowers: I haven't even thought about it. Zip. Zilch. Any ideas are welcome, but I don't want to sit in a reception room full of pollen either. Salty's provides a lot of the usual decorations, but I am thinking it would be nice to have a couple pieces around the room...

Photographer: I haven't looked at this either. Tragedy I know. The thing is I want to hire someone who knows me, so that places severe limitations...more time to think about this thank goodness. The dilemma of course is do I want my friends to work during the reception? Or do I want them to enjoy the reception as a guest and as a guest only...

Registry: We have been updating our Macy's and Sur La Table registries all weekend; I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE online registries. I am probably more familiar with Macy's products than I SHOULD be which makes the online access super. I don't need to go the store to look, feel, or touch things. One thing to note we are not registering for Fine China, Dishes, or Flatware. Why? We like basic white for everyday and because of our preferences, I want to some day have a set of Chinese dishes and of course a set of Japanese dishes. Macy's doesn't offer those things that is for sure. We love our current flatware and we have a ton of it and our dishes are coolio for now (thanks Mom!).

Honeymoon: Perhaps we'll just trek on up to Canada. Originally Hawaii was the idea, but that can be another time.

Bridal Party: If you haven't figured out by now we aren't going to have a formal bridal party. Mainly because our ceremony will be so initimate we felt there wasn't a need to say we had to have these roles fulfilled. However this doesn't mean we have outruled having Bachelor parties or Bridal Showers. I am certain if someone wants to do these things for either of us that it would be one of our closer friends anyway (Metropolitan Steak Houes anyone? (haha)).

I'm sure I've forgotten something...like do we have programs, do we have favors for our guests, do we hire a photographer to travel to Vegas with us, blah!!! But seriously if I have forgotten something, you should email or call one of us. If you ever want the most immediate update we can provide -- always check our Wedding site (again look to the left...) as we are updating basically once we make a decision together.

We're Engaged!

5 years to the day as today is our anniversary, Chris and I are finally engaged. We are still working on the details, but for now this is what "the plan" is:

- Getting engaged (done)

- Setting a date ... we're thinking August 2008?

- Buying stuff like a dress, flowers, you know... soon?

- Picking a place to get married ... we're thinking Las Vegas (those of you know who you are - are invited, only immediate family and close friends)

- Picking a place to have a less formal party AFTER the ceremony back in Seattle

So obviously the ceremony and the reception are two separate things in two totally separate locations and on two totally separate dates. There you go.

How did we get engaged? We had been talking about it for months now, so it wasn't a total surprise; we were inspired by Johanna and Mark's rings and we picked out a mokume gane style. As today is our 5 year anniversary of dating, we went out to I Love Sushi, came home and he popped the ring and the question. I had a feeling that today would be the day so I didn't burst out into tears or scream like a banshee, but it is still pretty cool. Neat huh?

And now pictures of the ring...

Front View, I think this shows the mokume gane pattern the best!

Oblique 1 ... oooh, ahhh...

Oblique 2 ... oooh....

On my hand, front view.

On hand, side view.

If there are any other questions, you know where to call or email. Thanks.