Another change…

(Before I forget, see protected)

Okay…so apparently, the schedule for the ferries that run in between islands doesn’t get published until March/April and we can’t wait that long before definitely planning our trip.  So we might have to drop Sifnos (the third, less touristy island) from our plans since the ferries only run there 2-3 times a week and we don’t know which days yet.  We will replace sifnos with….Crete…which is a HUGE island, so there will be plenty to do there.  So after looking at hotels, this is where I’d love to stay. 

We didn’t want to stay at the super fancy resort hotels, because I’ve never liked those.  So I looked really hard for fun, quaint places that are clean and have a good rep.  I hope I can get them!

1) Santorini – look at those views!!!!  I know the rooms look cave-like…they actually are caves that have been dug into the sides on the volcano.  Most of the hotels look like this in santorini

-Lava Oia….which is in the city we want to stay in . The owner of these apts is an architect, so this place has a little more charm that some of the others.  Looks less cave-like!  And check out that terrace!!!  (and the cute doors!)

(this is only the bedroom, there’s a separate living room, bathroom and kitchen (big plus…there’s a market nearby and we can cook some meals ourselves then)

2) Rhodes.  This was the island with the medieval history, etc.  I can’t decide between these two hotels

-S. Nikolis Hotel….VERY medieval looking…and gorgeous

(this isn’t the hotel, but this is what surrounds Old City)

-Marco Polo Mansion.  This was an old mansion from the 1400′s!  Converted into a hotel…has a lot of Turkish flavor.  Those colored walls are gorgeous!!!  For some reason, it doesn’t look as good in these small pics…but it actually got really great reviews.

3) Crete.  There are a lot of cosmopolitan areas in Crete…but we wanted to stay somewhere quieter and drive around the cities during the day.

-Ammos Hotel … very Ikea. hahahaha.

I’m going to speak to the travel agent tomorrow and hopefully we can book it this week.  I would have done it myself, except i didn’t trust myself with the whole ferry/flight schedule thing.

Change in plans…

After waiting and waiting for my vacation days to get approved, we go and try to book our honeymoon, but the cruise we wanted is already full.  We had a few other cruises to choose from, but none of them went to the combination of locations that we wanted to go to.  We felt like we would be settling if we chose one of the other cruises…and who knew how long it would be before we could go back and see the places we really wanted to see.

So we decided to hold off on the cruise until later…..and perhaps go somewhere else.  After a little brainstorming, we decided that we’re going to look into going to Greece, specifically the Greek Islands.  At first I thought maybe to do a Mediterranean cruise, but I felt like we would have enough time at each location to see everything.  And Greece was always at the top of my honeymoon list, but I always thought it was crazy expensive.  But the weeks we’d be going is off peak…or middle peak.  It’s RIGHT before their peak season starts, so everything is a little cheaper. 

Plus after doing some research, there are some mid-level budget accomodations we could stay at and still have great views and access to everything. And there won’t be hoards of tourists around….they are annoying. hhahaha.

I decided on visiting three islands (if I can find hotels, that is):

1) Santorini….the ultimate honeymoon location.  The big party city on santorini is Fira….which is where we WON’T stay.  We’ll probably stay in Oia instead….reportedly the best sunsets EVER.

2) Rhodes…specifically the Old Town, which is really and old town.  It’s probably the most well maintained Medieval city…people still live there.  The architecture is to DIE for.  Plus, I have an obsession with ancient civilizations (MC_Fairy will attest to that…she used to find me up at all hours of the night watching PBS specials on like ancient Egypt and stuff like that.  She’d be like, “Why are you watching THAT?”)

3) Sifnos.  This is more of an off-the-beaten-path island.  It’s known for it’s gorgeous hiking paths.  And supposedly the best chefs in Greece are from Sifnos…so yummy yummy food.  We’d probably stay inland on this island for the hiking.  (i guess we gorge ourselves…the walk it off!).  And apparently there are 365 churches on this ONE island (you could go to a different one every day!). 

So i really really hope this works out……i’m actually more excited about this than Alaksa for some reason.

UGH.

So DH and I FINALLY got our vacation days approved for our honeymoon in May.  And we were totally excited to book because now there’s a special on the cruise we originally wanted.  We called up the travel agent today and that cruisetour is FULL!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.  There is one more cruisetour that they offer, but the destinations that it hits isn’t as good.

The travel agent told us that Princess cruises also does a lot of cruise tours in alaska and they actually have a lot of opennings for the two weeks we have off.  And if we book with our Amex, there are free upgrades in cabins and free dinners or something.  So now i’m considering princess, even though  the ship isn’t as luxurious.  I think it’ll end up being cheaper…so we can spend that money on shore excursions.  And if we can talk him into getting us a sweet upgrade, the rooms may be just as nice.  Princess cruises actually specializes more in the Denali Park/Mt kinley area…which is where I’m most interested in….all that nature stuff.

So we’ll see…he’s going to call me back this weekend to lay out all my options.  We’re hoping we can spend a night in Vancouver too before the tour YAY! VANCOUVER!

Anyhow, DH and I were waiting for yesterday to come because we knew they were going to announce a lot of new cameras.  We’ve been looking into buying a DSLR for a while…but held off until now because we wanted to see what the new generation would bring.  We already have a Canon SLR (film) and two lenses for that (which sadly has gone untouched since we got our digitals…..we bought this SLR over 5 years ago).  And those lenses are actually compatible with the DSLR’s, so all we would need is the body.

Before the announcement, we were debating between the Rebel XTi and the 40D.  I thought the rebel felt kind of kinky and it wasn’t that comfortable in my hands…but we thought the 40D was a little too advanced and expensive for our shooting needs.  We kind of wanted something in the middle, but there really wasn’t anything.  I guess we could have tried out Nikons…but I didn’t want to have to buy new lenses.  So…it seems like the newest Rebel XSi, might be a good compromise!

ooooh pretty.  They added some features from their pro camera lines and made it slightly bigger….and the price isn’t too bad!!! (although, now I can get the XTi for super cheap!)

We’ll have to see….we want to bring two cameras to Alaska with us because I’m a camera hog and I get irritated when PB wants to use the camera hahahahaha.

My preview pics from Angelica….

Okay, now that it’s not post bedtime, I’ll be less lazy and actually post the pics.  I was all planning to go to bed early.  and before i shut down the computer, i was like, okay, i’ll just check one last time (because i’ve been stalking the blog religiously)…and they were UP.  I paid for it today though, I was muy tired :(  .

A lot of the pics probably have more meaning to me than to the average viewer…actually a lot of them were candids and I was so happy that she caught those moments.  Like with PB’s younger bro fixing the collar of his older bro…..and me sniffing my bouquet (I could not stop sniffing that thing, it smelled so good).  And the group shot of all the groomsmen and bridesmaids (all 4 of them!!!  that was the best decision EVER!!!).  We were told to pretend to talk and laugh amongst ourselves.  And there was a split second of silence and stillness while the others were processing that…and then out of nowhere, MC_Fairy thrusts out her bouquet and goes, “HEY….what do you think about my flowers?!”  hahahahahaha….ok, i guess you had to be there.  It was just VERY her!  So the laughing was for real.  (and doesn’t it look like it was snowing in that pic!!!!)

Ok…without further ado, my preview pics (taken by angelica glass…please do not copy)

That 1/2 piece of bread was all I ate of my breakfast that morning.  Most of the hair/makeup people came early, so I didn’t get a chance to eat (because I also woke up late tee hee)

I will never look at the cover of a cream cheese container the same way again!

The AMAZING Stacy Pitt finishing up my hair.

I love the position of my feet in this one.  It almost makes me look like I’m nervous.  But I wasn’t.  I live in an asian household.  The thermostat was like turned to 50 degrees….so my feet were freezing!

I must admit, I cheated a little for this pic, unbeknownst to Angelica. We started getting ready in the pitch black darkness of early morning.  But the day before, I figured out which window the rising sun would enter through first.  It turned out to be my dining room window.  So I had everyone get ready there, knowing that by the time Angelica got there, the sun would just be rising and the light would be pretty decent by that window.

My flowers!

Me getting out of my getting ready attire.

I look like I’m eating a large cauliflower! hahahaha!

I totally <3 this one

Trees are pretty in the winter too!

More flare!

I love this one too…one of the groomsmen and one of the BM’s helping me fix my veil (omg, that long this was SOOOO annoying to wear).

One of PB’s best friends drives a white hot Porsche.  We asked him to come early so we can take bad ass pics in it.  Those are also the best friend’s sunglasses hahahaha.

The view from the parking lot

My placecards!!!!

Jeyi…getting some mashed potatos

My mom’s fake smile. HAHAHAHAHA.

April, those finger puppets were for Kymora…not you!!!!

This is when we made PB’s parents kiss in front of everyone!  He wanted out!

I can’t wait to see the rest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lard Laden…

Ok, I could have possibly cooked the most fattening and artery clogging concotion ever for dinner today.  I had a nice salmon filet all defrosted ready to go…but work kicked my arse today and I needed some comfort food.  So I went to this breakfast joint with PB once where I had this breakfast skillet…and it was a mix of home fries, bacon, avocadoes, tomatoes and cheese topped with a fried egg (seasoned with cilantro and lime juice).  It was DELISH.

So i made that tonight….except with no potatos (I only have two left…and both have gigantic roots growing out of them…those things freak me out…i refuse to touch them). So I “accidentally” used 6 slices of bacon  (I went to peel off three and 6 came off….so i didn’t feel like putting them back)…a whole avocado, tomatos, cheese and the fried egg (fried in the bacon grease of course).  It smelled GOOD.   And the first 1/2 of it tasted SO good…..until i felt nauseas and got a headache from all that grease. hahahahha.

oh yeah…i also had 3 slices of bacon and some scrambled eggs for breakfast.  I know i’m taking my good cholesterol levels for granted.  I should probably stop doing that…I’m not that young anymore.  Maybe I should start working out too….ugh. 

Hey, can PB play on our softball team this year?!

*EDIT*  OMG…..ANGELICA POSTED SOME OF OUR PICS ON HER BLOG!!!! 

I put them into my wedding website  PREVIEW PIC

What to do….

So, after talking to PB, he said he was okay with me keeping my last name!!!   The thing is part of me wants to take his name because we’re married and the other part wants to keep it…because, well, it’s been me for so long.  Plus, i have one of those names where people feel like they like to say my first name (short version) and last name together as one name.  I don’t know why….but whereever I go, people eventually start calling me first name (shortened) last name as one name.

My other option is to hyphenate.  the thing is, when we got our marriage license, we put down his last name as my new last name because he wasn’t so cool with it before.  Is it too late now to still hyphenate?  The marriage license technically reads “my first name” “my last name”/”his last name”.

Also, the places and schools that i’ve gone to for pharmacy all know me by my last name.  I still need them as references at this point since i’ve only worked one job so far.  I don’t want the whole “i don’t know who that is” thing to happen.

ok…on another note, went to church yesterday! we didn’t end up going to the one 5 min away because i read on their website that their pastor was away on a retreat. So we’re going to wait til this weekend to go.  We went to one downtown instead….like one of those huge churches with 4 different services types.  Actually, one of our friends goes to that church at recommended it to us at our wedding.  So we went….and it was really good. 

The only thing was that it was a very traditional service….so it was all hymns.  PB does not like to sing hymns…he finds it hard to follow melodically because he can’t read notes.  but they have people who perform for the prelude for like 15 minutes….we had this vocalist (senior in college), who was AMAZING.  and their choir also sings throughout the service…also AMAZING.  LIke professional choir sounding…PERFECT harmonies (acapella too)….the altos were really strong too (ALTO PRIDE!)  And I am SOOOOOO picking about singing.   The pastor was very good…and PB didn’t fall asleep like he predicted (he’s still transitioning back from working night shift the past week).

There was also a highly rated sushi joint a few blocks away, so we went to eat after service and on the way there, bumped into the friend who recommended the church to us.  We actually saw him in service because we sat a few rows behind us.  But while we were putting our coats back on, we lost him and didn’t get a chance to say hi.

I wouldn’t mind going back, but  I think PB probably prefers a more contemporary style of worship.  But I can only image what the holiday services at this place must be like.

Aaaaah…..

I went to cut my hair today.  I went to philly’s top rated hair salon (according to citysearch) because it was supposed to be reasonably priced and very laid back.  I’ve alway been hesitant to go to those high end salons because I feel like they’re so snotty.  But this place was awesome…it was so chill and unpretentious…and yes, reasonably priced! yay!  But my girl fixed my hair as best as she could…i didn’t really give her too much to work with since it was already short and I didn’t want to take off too much length. 

The original cut was SOOOO unevenly choppy.  That woman was the ONLY hairdresser i’ve ever been to who didn’t cut hair by separating the hair into sections and working from the inside layer up.  She just pushed down ALL my hair with her hand against my neck….and then just chopped straight across….ALL my hair at one time.  She was going to leave it like that until I reminded her that I wanted layers.  Then she just grabbed random sections of my hair and chopped away with the shearing scissors.  She didn’t even section the hair to make sure she got every part of my head (or to see if she accidentally cut the same part twice).  She just grabbed and chopped.  So it was SOOO uneven….i had like this thick layer at the bottom..then the top part was so heavily layered.  Even PB noticed and he never notices hair stuff.

Anyhow, i was going to try to grow it out for a month or two and then go get it re-cut, but I couldn’t stand it anymore.  So it’s still slightly uneven because it would have to be cut to like ear level to have it all evened out…but it looks sooo much better and it has movement (the previous cut was like a helmet).  No more random flushing hair salon for me.

So now it’s sort of like the Posh Spice bob…except the same length on both sides.  I didn’t really want it to be that graduated of a bob, but the back was so butchered, i told her to go ahead and do it.  And then she put in the Nicole Ritchie bangs in the front (not as heavy though).  She flatironed it out….and I actually really like it.  I look like a punk rocker!  tee hee.

On another note, this wedding planner, who writes one of those wedding planning blogs, contacted me today.  She saw my pro pic preview and asked if she could post them on her blog along with a little blurb about my wedding (she wants to do an online interview)!!!!  I’m famous! hahahahaha.

It’s Not The Same….

For dinner tonight, I tried to replicate the sea bass dish with provolone and tomatoes that I had at Westbury Manor.  I only got through 1/3 of the fish before doing the table rounds…and then when I came back, it was gone. I was sad….because it was actually good (I usually hate wedding food).  I had, on hand, cheaper variations of all the ingredients….tilapia in place of sea bass…mozarella in place of provolone.  I cooked it like I thought they would cook it….(who am I kidding, i have no idea how they cooked it).  It turned out decent….but not as good.  Nothing beats a good piece of sea bass……except for a good piece of swordfish (YUM, my fave)!

Okay, it’s time to upgrade my very good friend’s nickname…since we are now married and no longer just very good friends.  I shall now refer to him as PB (which stands for a nickname I call him…which I shall not divulge for risk of embarrassing PB to no end)

Anyhow, I am getting another newleywed chop tomorrow hopefully.  yes, two weeks after the first.  My current one is horrid.  I wanted the nicole ritche bob…i tried to explain it as best as I could in chinese.  yeah….maybe I shouldn’t try that next time.  Anyway, it’s sort of mullet like….kind of reminds me of JJ’s hair  like when it was growing all over his neck.  So yeah….going to try to save it tomorrow since I spend so much time in the mornings trying to force my hair into the shape I want it to be.

Other plans for the weekend, we’re trying out a new church this Sunday! YAY! We kind of slacked off on the hunt between exams and planning the wedding.  We tried one…didn’t like it… and kind of got discouraged.  But I found out that there is one just 5 minutes away from us….it’s one of those 1st generation asian-american church plants…so everyone is in the 20-40 age range…and mostly asian.  Sort of like a really big English Ministry (I guess the way Union was supposed to turn out).  PB is very excited that the church is only 2.5 miles away.  He was like, “we can BIKE there”!! 

On another note, how come no one blogs anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!  BLOG!!  I want something to read during my 5 spare minutes at work.  Rant: there are some REALLY nasty, rude MD’s out there.  There is NO reason why you have to be so nasty to people…ESPECIALLY if I’m super nice to you and am  trying to prevent you from making a med error.  I am not generalizing….some of them are really awesome…but those bad apples just ruin my day.  I spend so much time paging them and trying to track them down just to have to argue with them over the phone. ugh. TGIF.

I AM YOUR BROOOOOOOOTHER

Who just saw that?!  hahahahahaha.  I was dying.  I usually get annoyed at people who do weird things and change the channel….but I just could not stop watching this guy….even after the 10th round of his chorus.

No other news.  I went back to work this week…which was extremely difficult after my two weeks off.  I had to take a 3 hour nap after work today because I was so pooped.   I can make it til lunch, but after lunch, my brain is fried. 

More pics …

This time from my cousin, Caroline Yang  , who is an amazing wedding photog based in the Minnesota area.  She sent me some collages from the wedding and she stayed to shoot my bowling after party!  I especially love seeing all the action shots from bowling! I can’t wait to see more of her stuff either!!!!  (click on a collage to get into my photoblog…then click on the image again to see it larger)

oh yeah.  I showed some people at work the josh lynn pics since they asked to see pics.  Every single person who saw them stared at them for a few minutes…then turned to me and asked, “who is that?”  “is that YOU?”  (they weren’t joking….they really couldn’t tell that it was me).  They all thought they were looking at pics of some random asian girl…and were waiting for me to scroll down to my pics.

Ok…to be fair, i look like crap at work.  I have to be in by 7 AM, so I’m up early…and I am not a morning person.  I did the bare necessities….just hygiene, no beauty.  All i do in the morning is wake up late, realize I’ve woken up late, the rush to brush my teeth and wash my face (or take a shower if I have to).  Irregardless of shower or not, my hair is never touched in the mornings.  Back when it was longer, it wait straight into a ponytail.  And now that it’s short, I told myself I would wake up earlier to blow dry.  Doesn’t happen…it just forms this odd shape with cowlicks and weird bumps (depending on how the layers dry) as it dries naturally.

I’m always in glasses ( the air in the hospital is too dry for me to wear contacts) and although I do dress decent enough, I do nothing else to boost my image.  And I really don’t care…i just never realized it was that big of a difference!  I guess since people at work have only seen the dorky, 4-eyed Jen, they were probably expected the same of me on my wedding day hahahaha.