ben dover

For the last couple years, I was doing yoga at least once or twice a week during lunch at the office. Then I got laid off and didn't have the dolla-dolla-bills-y'all to pay for both my prewedding bootcamp and fancy-schmancy yoga.

Months went by and I went to a few random Bikram Yoga class but I missed my regular yoga class. I just can't get into hot yoga... I don't know why I torture myself. I keep thinking that I'll like the heat, but I never do.

Then one of my good friends, who recently began teaching yoga offered to teach a class to me and a group of my friends. It was perfect. I was sore for days! And it made me realize that I need to quit thinking about signing up for yoga, and just go for it!

So I did.



I signed up for the introductory series at my neighborhood studio. But now all I can think about is yoga clothes!

Salivating over these lululemon pantswith the scrunchy ankles and these hot pink reversible pants (they're black on the inside). If only I had a discount!

My new evening schedule: Bootcamp - M&W
Yoga - T&Th

Hunny Bunny's evening schedule: Warcraft - MTWThFSSu

*sigh*

shopbop giveaway: how much do you love kiki de montparnasse?

Hunny Bunny and I decided to wait until January before going to on our honeymoon. Now that we're in the midst of planning our fabulous (and maybe even a little romantic) getaway, I'm thinking lingerie!




What do you think I should get? I've got a $100 Shopbop.com instant gift card reserved for one lucky commenter who tells me all about her favorite piece of Kiki de Montparnasse lingerie from Shopbop.com. There's only one winner, so get creative. The best comment wins!



Who was Kiki de Montparnasse?

Kiki de Montparnasse was a sexually-free, wildly-independent beauty symbol from the '20s. She was a cabaret singer, a muse for French artists, an actress, and a painter.
Known simply as "Kiki," her real name was Alice Prin.




What is Kiki de Montparnasse, the label?

Inspired by its sultry namesake, Kiki de Montparnasse (the line of women's lingerie) is all about capturing the same qualities of passion and sophistication. The brand is known for its decadent, lingerie-meets-luxury vibe, and the actual boutiques in New York and Los Angeles carry everything from "intimate accessories," to jewelry and home products. But, even if you can't make it to NY or LA, you can still get in on the action. Just leave a comment below letting me know which piece of Kiki lingerie from Shopbop is your favorite and how you'd wear it. Is it daring or darling? Would it stay in the bedroom or go public? The most creative commenter wins a $100 Shopbop.com gift card towards anything in the store, so start writing.

Contest ends on Saturday, December 12, 2009!

down the aisle... finally

I could barely breathe knowing I was on the cusp of being married. FOREVER.

One of Hunny Bunny's groomsmen is a doctor and he made me take several deep breaths so I didn't pass out.

Here we go!

Leave it to me to be the one who started giggling while trying to repeat after the officiant. Teehee!





Cocktail hour went by in a blur. HB and I ordered the best hors d'oeuvres - pork sliders, harissa chicken wings and caprese skewers! Too bad I didn't have any! I couldn't eat a thing all day. But the kids, young and old, loved the sliders.

For the reception, we did the W's fabulous "May We Take Your Order" package. Each of our guests were given a menu with four entree choices. It was so elegant and all of our guests raved about the food.

Each guest started with a seared sea scallop with lobster sauce and a Cascade salad with house-made prosciutto, arugula and blueberries. For the intermezzo everyone had a tart and tasty lemon sorbet.

The entree choices were baked halibut with tomatoes provencal; braised beef short ribs with butternut squash and a plum mostarda; grilled beef tenderloin with creme fraiche whipped potatoes; and grilled eggplant ricotta lasagna.

I chose tiramisu cheesecake for our wedding cake.





The rest of the evening flew by - so quickly that I completely forgot to do the bouquet toss! Mommy keeps teasing me about it, even though she totally took my toss-bouquet home with her.

At one point, the boys kept me distracted while my friends snuck up to our honeymoon suite and decorated our room with candles and flowers petals.



I thought about taking a bath that night, but when I looked in the tub, there were smudges and bits of dirt in it!

Now I know why...

almost down the aisle part III

It was a long day.
Thankfully it was easy to change from the Chinese wedding outfit to my wedding dress. A quick zip here and there. Voila! Done!

Hunny Bunny had a issues with my veil. He kept yanking it off (accidentally, I hope!) throughout the day. At least my hair was still intact.
I let the girls do whatever they wanted with their hair, especially since I pulled a bridezilla and asked that they all have similar makeup. Aren't they pretty?

(My niece is the one with the headband - she was a junior bridesmaid.)

My gifts to the girls were dangly pearl earrings. Since I knew I would wear my pearl necklace, I thought it would be a nice tie-in to have them wearing something similar.

I also wanted to give them something they could wear both during the wedding and also in their every day life. I didn't want to get them pearl studs because sometimes that can look matronly and boring. The dangly earrings were much more fun, and young, and definitely more me.

The guys all wore their own suits. We didn't want to have rented tuxedos and we also didn't want to burden them with having to a new matching suit. They all had black suits in their closet so we just had them wear what they felt comfortable in.

Hunny Bunny wore a grey tie to go with our yellow-grey color scheme. The guys wore black.
HB's nephew was our ring bearer and he took his job very seriously. He had that silly grin plastered on his face the entire ceremony. His little brother is just as adorable.

Loves!

We had been taking pictures around the W hotel lobby and bar. It had been raining all morning. Hello? November in Seattle? Of course it was raining!

But we lucked out. There was mini break between storms and we decided to risk it and head to the Seattle Public Library for a few shots.Several people in our wedding party had never been to the library and were in complete awe.

If you're ever in town, you must visit the library. It's absolutely amazing. The long escalator ride was perfectly matched with our colors.
Then we needed to rush back to the W before it started raining again. (Word on the street was that it was pretty miserable for the rest of the day!)

Glad there weren't any puddles to ruin my grey Pradas!
Just a few minutes before the ceremony and one of my friends brought up a bottle of muscato to hopefully quell my down-the-aisle jitters.

Cheers!

almost down the aisle part II

Traditionally, the tea ceremony would take place at the bride's family's house. But because of time constraints and because my mom's kinda lazy, we opted to have the Chinese tea ceremony at the W Hotel, where our main ceremony and reception would take place.

My Gramma was absolutely thrilled that we were having a tea ceremony. She had that silly smile on her face all day long! (I pretty much had that smile on my face too!) It made me so happy to be able to make my Gramma so happy too. She's my favorite person.

My Grampa came from Hong Kong for the wedding. (He's my mom's dad; my Gramma's my dad's mom.) He cracks me up because the older he gets, the more childlike he becomes. All he's concerned about is where his next meal is!

During the tea ceremony, Hunny Bunny and I offered tea to our elders. My godmother (not the crazy fur lady - that's my crazy fur lady aunt!) led the entire ceremony, offering words of good fortune, success and health to those who accepted our offerings of tea.

In return, Hunny Bunny and I received gifts and red envelopes with lucky money.

On a side note, Gramma's got some great stems, don't you think? One of my (many, many) aunties kept trying to get her to adjust the slit of her dress because she was showing too much skin. Ha!

My mommy and daddy were beaming when it was their turn. My brother joked that instead of accepting the tea from HB, my dad would throw it in his face!

D'oh.

Luckily, dad was in a good mood.

Here are some of the gifts we received during the ceremony. The 24K gold ring was from my grandfather - I don't think he actually knew what he gave me. I have a feeling someone else picked it out and just told him to hand it to me. He was mainly concerned about the roast pork that everyone else was nibbling on!



The diamond tennis bracelet was from my parents. I couldn't believe how HUGE the diamonds were! Daddy said it was over five carats. Holy moly! The 24K gold dragon/phoenix bangles (there's a matching one on my other wrist) are also from my parents. They're traditional wedding bangles and are extremely delicate - not for every day wear. They're meant to be passed down from generation to generation.

My dad present HB with a limited-edition Omega Snoopy watch! It's super duper cute! Daddy's a bit of a watch collector and had this watch for several years. I think HB liked it.

My eldest auntie gave me a 24K gold bracelet (on my other wrist, sorry!) that my great-grandfather had given to her when she got married. I was so touched that she would give something so meaningful to me. I barely remember my great-grandfather. In my mind, he was a well-dressed man who always had candy in his pocket for me!

And finally! It's time for the snacks! My dad is serving up some wedding cookies or, as we youngsters like to call, "the pink hockey pucks."

Just another hour until the main ceremony... eep!

almost down the aisle part I

Hunny Bunny is Vietnamese and I'm Chinese. That meant that we would have to somehow accommodate both traditions during our wedding day.

We started our hectic (and rainy!) morning (after hair and makeup for me and the bridesmaids) at HB's place for the Vietnamese ceremony.

We had to light incense and bow to his ancestors and provide offerings of fruit. His uncle took charge and led us through the whole process. Unfortunately, I had no idea what he was saying since he only spoke Vietnamese.

I just did what any other sensible girl would do on her wedding day - follow the groom's lead!

Then HB's mom and dad spoke and sadly, I still had no idea what was going on. I just smiled and nodded. Finally, his mom turned to me and spoke in English.

She welcomed me into the family and said that while HB is an only child, she had enough love to share with both of us and that she loved me like a daughter. *sniff* And then she presented with me with a gorgeous diamond necklace that she had made especially for me!

(I realized after the wedding that she even had our initials engraved on the clasp! How sweet and thoughtful is that!?)

This was all followed by more smiling and nodding on my part. HB's relatives greeted us and gave us gifts of money and cards and wishes of love and success and happiness.

And children. Lots and lots of children.

ACK.

tardy for the party

Scottsdale was ah-mazing. My bff and I arrived a day earlier than the rest of the girls and just enjoyed a day of shopping, followed by an intense yoga class for me and a relaxing facial for her at the Phoenician Resort.

Another girlfriend arrived from LA that evening and we had a yummy dinner at Cowboy Ciao, where we also enjoyed a wine flight of bubbly. I think I enjoyed it too much because I damn near passed out. I blame my low blood pressure. Uh huh. Yup.

The next morning, two of my cousins arrived and we had brunch at the pool. (C/D-list Celebrity siting: Fantasia!)

Later, we check in to the W Hotel where we spent the rest of the weekend. That's also when we found out it was their 1-year anniversary and they were having a huge party - and we were all invited!

The theme was Alice in Wonderlust. ADORE! (D-list Celebrity siting: Malcolm from Malcolm in the Middle!)

Mushrooms!

We had an amazing time and even got little Bliss spa swag bags! The next day, we were all just a tad hungover... At least I was! (Lightweight!)

Lounged at the pool and took turns going to the Bliss Spa for our appointments. Just what the doctor ordered. After a day of relaxation, we had dinner at Mastro's steakhouse.

That place is reason enough for us to go back! Drool....

Following dinner, and unbeknownst to me, the girls had another treat up their sleeves.. A horrible, horrible treat.

A male nudey bar! EWWWWWWWWWWWW!

The icky boys got full on nekkid! *shudder*

There were twins workin' the pole when we walked in and later there was a guy wearing nothing but black socks doing handstands!

Needless to say, we left pretty quickly. And we do not have any photos.

I can't wait to be married.

at long last

My bad. For real.

With the wedding exactly three weeks (eeps!) I can't concentrate on anything but. Not to mention my part time job has turned into a nearly full time now, though without the benefits. At least I'm getting paid though right?

Anyway, the winner of the Tolani wool/silk scarf is Persian Tea!!

Congrats! And please email me your name and address!

first chance at last chance

For years I heard rumors about this mythical Rack for the Rack in Scottsdale, called Last Chance. I thought it was another desert mirage.

Ladies, let me assure you that it's the real deal. All the rejects from the Rack, all the worn/damaged/returned merchandise from the full line stores make there way to Last Chance - a fitting name for the doomed.

I suppose if you had the time, and you went often, you would be able to find some gems. But for those of us in a hurry, it was overwhelming and a little bit disturbing. A couple of my girlfriends couldn't stand the germiness of handling used merchandise so they waited outside.

The rest of us scoured the haystack in hopes of finding that needle.

I scored with this pristine, oversized clutch by Longchamp. The rest of the bags and wallets were majorly damaged.

Mango snagged these amazing sky-high marc jacobs shoeties in black and Veen scored some olive Pierre Hardy suede peep toes. Damn their small feet!

is that a hickey?

No one would ever ask you that if you were wearing this amazing Tolani silk/wool blend scarf around your neck!

And lucky for you, it's up for grabs from
chickdowntown! I secretly wish I was eligible to win.

I could see myself wearing it with jeans and a boyfriend blazer or just throwing it over a LBD for a pop of color. The gal who wins must send me a photo! *jealous*

For those of you who follow
chickdowntown's twitter, you'll also know that Amy LOOOOOOOVES giveaways. Seriously. She has one every day, so be sure to follow her. Who knows? You might score one of the BB Dakota Bella jackets.

Here are the deets:

1. Contest open to U.S. and international residents. Note that international folks are responsible for any taxes or fees.
2. Leave a comment telling me how you would wear this scarf!
3. You must follow my blog, I promise I won't lead you anywhere scary.
4. Extra entries if you follow my twitter and also tweet about this drawing, just make sure you add @lookrichbitch.

I'll announce the winner on Monday, Oct 12th so get your entry in by midnight PST, Oct. 11. Late entries will not be accepted.