One of my favourite shots from the wedding!

After all the trouble I went to find vendors for decor and prop rental and flowers... I forgot to tell my photog to go down to the canteen in the basement to take photos of all the hard work and sweat. Argh!

Realized I didn't mention much about the wedding on this blog. Life indeed moves too fast for me to even process or sit down to write anything.

Woah has it already been 3 weeks since my last blog post? It felt so recent.

Here I am again with my first blog post as a married woman!

If you ask me what's the difference... there is no difference. Hahaha. We're still living apart and I'm still sleeping on my own comfortable single bed with Squishy and Rolly. We meet if neither of us has anything in the evenings, which is just like how it was pre-marriage!

Now that the big day is done and dusted and there is no more wedding prep to be done... I actually kinda miss doing wedding prep! LOL.

Some hiccups here and there for the wedding but overall it went smoothly and I am glad for that.

What I do have left is a very messy study room with bags and boxes of stuff to unpack and store away (mostly decor items) and 2 weeks worth of clothes to iron. Also we need to sort out our finances. Very sadly a lot of people under-bao their angbao plus my mother has buay paiseh-ly taken all the angbaos for her tables so I have a deficit of about 12 tables ++++++.

Although no money... we are still going for our honeymoon. Yah no idea how but maybe we'll just go there and eat 7-11 food every day.

I can't wait to see my photos from Pixel Musica though! I didn't get to take much photos on that day at all :(
But also good la coz it allows me to be in the moment. Instead of living the most important day of my life through a phone.

Till the next update!

Erps! Standing at less than 3 weeks to the wedding!

COMPLETED!
- mailed all invites out
- confirmed mass booklets
- found makeup artists for mothers and sisters
- finalized pre-wedding album layout, like FINALLY!
- ordered cakes and buy stuff for GDL and An Chuang
- rented bus to ferry P's mom's church friends to SVDP
- touched base with AD photog & videographer, video interview done!
- ordered flowers for church canteen decor
- bed delivered
- macaron boxes and stickers ordered

I would say we are more or less there? What's left is the nitty gritty... like the decor, selecting photos to print for reception display, the guestbook, finding an angbao box for church... oh no I need to come up with a more comprehensive list coz I'm just plucking all these to-do things out of my head :x

OH YES AND THE SPEECH.

And then hope that everyone turns up and that I can fill up all the empty gaps at my dinner banquet... I have like 2 gaps here and 3 gaps there at certain tables... ARGH! And then some people cannot separate to different tables if not very odd. But if I combine all these empty seats, I can save at least 1 table!

Do I need to hold a bridesmaids briefing? Like run through the duties and the schedule and all that? I myself don't even know what needs to be done LOL.

I have also run out of creative juices on how to give Paul a birthday surprise. Coz it's not only our wedding day, it's also his 30th birthday! Sorry Paul. Heh. :x

What I'm looking forward to the most is... RESTAURANT WEEK after the wedding! Whoop whoop! Gonna feast! :)))

It's the GDL this Sunday and An Chuang next Tues! Here are the bears with the huge Pin Jin angbao. Haha.

And the countdown says... 18 more days!

Let's revisit my to-do list...

- print church invites (half done, waiting to collect them hopefully by this Fri!)
- confirm with Fr on content of mass booklets (half done, a lot of back and forth with organist about hymns and stuff)
- finalize choir & organist (done!)
- book caterer for lunch reception (done!)
- send invites out after Lunar 7th month (getting to it!)
- find makeup artists for mother and sister (half done, pending Paul's mom to confirm)
- rent car to send invites in Malaysia (no need anymore! woohoo!)
- inform Pixioo about photo selection for album and canvas photo (done! but I need to chase him, he is really damn unresponsive -__-")
- think of 3 things that we want engraved on our wooden photobooth props (done!)
- trial makeup (done after rescheduling my appointment 3 times -__-")

Adding a few more things to the to-do list...

- order cakes and buy stuff for Guo Da Li and An Chuang
- select music for church entrance and dinner march-in
- look for photos of myself from age 1-29
- try and design something to slot said photos into
- figure out how to do my pinwheel backdrop
- rent bus to ferry P's mom's church friends to SVDP
- touch base with AD photographer and videographer
- come up with the schedule!
- figure out how to get flowers for church canteen decor
- book manicure/hair appointment/facial
- arrow people to do certain tasks
- finalize table cloth and chair seat cover selection with MBS florist
- order boxes for macarons
- sort out decor props and stuff and plan decor
- order stickers to stick on macaron boxes
- get bed delivered!
- design and print map to church

And the countdown says... 39 more days!

*horror face* Somehow it's only less than 2 months to the wedding!

I have so many undone things!

- print church invites
- confirm with Fr on the content of the mass booklets before sending it to print
- finalize choir & organist
- book caterer for lunch reception
- order cakes and buy stuff for Guo Da Li and An Chuang
- select music for church entrance and dinner march-in
- look for photos of myself from age 1-29
- try and design something to slot said photos into
- send invites out after Lunar 7th month!!!
- figure out how to do my pinwheel backdrop
- find makeup artists for mother and sister
- rent car to send invites in Malaysia
- rent bus to ferry P's mom's church friends to SVDP
- inform Pixioo about our photo selection for album & big canvas photo
- touch base with AD photographer and videographer
- come up with the schedule!
- figure out how to get flowers for church canteen decor
- think of 3 things that we want engraved on our wooden photobooth props
- book manicure/facial
- arrow people to do certain tasks
- finalize table cloth and chair seat cover selection with MBS florist

Sense of urgency not there yet haha. Going for my trial makeup this Saturday!

Oh yes I've finally gotten my hands on my pre-wedding shoot! Hehe some were not so nice but generally I think it's not too bad!
I can't afford the super expensive ones that I like so I think this is a good compromise.

Also I think the subjects play a very important role! If you're a natural in front of the camera and can pose well and not look awkward, all photos will turn out nice! Haha obviously not really the case for me.

Gillian says the "candid" ones are a more accurate reflection of me but then... all of them don't look glam. LOL!

Oh yup so previously I left off at my food tasting... posted about it on Dayre so copying and pasting it over!

Sands Expo & Convention Centre

7.06pm: woohoo! Food tasting day! This is prob the only thing I'm most excited abt hahaha

Food tasting!

Hehe look who is here to join us!

Posting some pics before they get too stale!

: lobster salad, Vietnamese spring roll
: roast duck (the mothers said it has a funny taste), jellyfish (too soft)
So-so: suckling pig

Double boiled chicken soup with sea whelk and dried scallops

: soup tasted not bad
: didn't really like the sea whelk. Too rubbery.

Err.... they chopped up the steamed soon hock before I could take a photo 

: everyone was ok with this, no negative comments! Fish was pretty fresh!

Stir fried scallops and asparagus with xo sauce

: I like the scallops! Big and plenty enough for each person to have 2.
No negative feedback for this too!

Braised abalone with green vegetables

The concern was that the 2 veg dishes were served right after the other. Easily rectified by switching the order of the dishes.

Taste wise not too bad, broccoli quite nice and crunchy.

Roasted chicken with prawn crackers

: think everyone liked the chicken and said it was crispy enough! Keropok also crispy as evidenced by the loud crunching sounds I heard haha

Braised e-fu noodles with enoki mushrooms

: noodles not bad
: enoki mushrooms were a little pathetic

This rather blah looking bowl of orange liquid is bird's best with mango juice and pomelo.

Hmm I think their food presentation can be improved! Forgot to feedback just now.

: tastes like 杨枝甘露
: can't really taste or see the bird's nest once it's mixed

Super full after the tasting!

And the countdown says... 54 more days!

Finally got my grubby hands on some sample photos from the pre-wed shoot last Monday! Showed them to some friends already so it's time to share them here too!

Blessed Sacarment Church

Jones the Grocer @ Dempsey

Outside Ben & Jerry's @ Dempsey

Botanic Gardens - newly minted UNESCO World Heritage Site haha

Botanic Gardens

Some field in Tuas

Photos taken by Samuel of Pixioo.

And the countdown says.... 82 more days!!!

Here to break the dry spell for August! :x 

Some pics from Jon & Shan's nuptials:

Theme was modern vintage hahaha but in the end I think the overall decor didn't look anything like modern vintage.

Vintage suitcase and blue mason bell jars (which are prob the most "vintage" looking items of all) rented from The Pixie Pop Shop!

The aforementioned blue vintage mason jar and our noob attempt at flower arrangement

More flowers... frantic afternoon prep before the dinner

Haha the only thing I did was to place the photo frame there LOL. Flowers and birdcage done up by the caterer.

Beautiful hand bouquets for the bridesmaids!

Fluff fluff fluffing pompoms

Behind the scenes

Colour coordinated in blush pink!

And one with the newly weds!

Fast forwarding the rest of August to current time; slumpy nest updates:

Received this in late July for our May Sale of Balance application

Received this yesterday for our July BTO application

Some statistics:

Sengkang SBF

No. of units available: 142

No. of applicants: 1005

Pros:

- Near my home (i.e. can get grant + convenient for me to go home hurhur)

- Am used to staying in the area / familiar with the north-east

- Can get flat by 2015!!!! (i.e. can have slumpy nest right after we get married!)

Cons:

- High possibility that there won't be good units left by the time it's our turn... then we have to wait again *deng deng deng deng*

- Strain on finances having to deal with wedding + housing $$$$$$

- Transport and amenities in the area (especially in newer parts of SK) are not as developed

Toa Payoh BTO

No. of units available: 419

No. of applicants: 4100

So we are actually quite lucky to get such a good number for TPY!

Pros:

- Central location (though I still like to stay in SK...... there are no parks around TPY for me to jog!)

- Confirm can get a unit (and a probably a good unit)

- Ample time to save for furniture and renovation

Cons:

- Flat will be ready only in 2019!!!!!!!!!! Will be homeless till then!

- Pretty far from my house :( ok la I think it's actually the mid-point between Paul's and my house

- Flats are more expensive in that area

And so there are other issues to consider like... when is our selection date? It could be any time from Sep to Nov or Dec... So if SK comes first and we forfeit our chance because all the units left are cui, do we get penalized for our TPY one? Can we continue to apply for more BTOs while waiting?

In other news I weighed myself yesterday and was a horrendous 53.8kg :x

Considering that I was about 56kg when I was at my plumpest, that's not very far off.

Can't seem to reduce the belly even though I've been exercising religiously. Or maybe I'm doing the wrong kind of exercise?

Just signed up for a 1 month trial with R-evolution and trying to maximize the unlimited classes by going 3x a week on top of weekly hot yoga, swim and jog. So other than Thurs coz I have RCIA, I'm engaged in some physical activity almost every day!

Sigh I guess it's back to controlling diet... having smaller portions... and stop being so greedy. WHICH IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME. Dieting is so much harder than exercising! :x

OK enough whining about weighty issues hurhur. Back to work.

Terrible! No time to do anything!

Helping out with the decor for Yuanshan's wedding... seems like there are ten thousand things to prepare just for the decor! Aiyo. When it's my turn I think I will turn into a Bridezilla :x

Snippets of the weekend just past:

  

Mostest beaming after Garfield Run!

The pinks and purples at the successful Hen's photoshoot! Was sweltering hot but great fun!

 

Atas dinner at Pollen! Here's my perfectly cooked salmon

And snippets of last last weekend:

 

Up close and personal with a panda haha

 

 Baked some white chocolate macadamia nut brownies

And snippets of last last last weekend:

 

FOOD (belated Father's day lunch)

 

MORE FOOD (great pig organ soup with selected organs) 

 

Brunch on a Sunday!

That seems to quite accurately sum up July. Not including never ending work at work.

I could go on and on and on about last x 4 weekend (meetup with Ichee after 4 or 5 months and melty charsiew) and last x 5 weekend (Hatter Street, cream puff baking class and meetup with Gassers after 3 or 4 months)... but ok I need to sleep, so till the next time, whenever that is. I need to find some time to blog and compose some coherent thoughts!!!!!!!!!

In case I go MIA again, this is what's up:

This long weekend: KL to attend a dinner/leisure trip/get stuck in a terrible jam back home

Next weekend: Yuanshan's wedding

Next next weekend: National Day and I HAVE NOTHING SCHEDULED! Woohoo!!!