Wedding Notes: MOH Dress Options

I've been looking around for potential maid of honor dresses, as far as design and style. I believe we're getting our dresses custom made, so...with that being said, here are a few of my faves so far.

Of course, the hem would be a tad bit longer (hitting right above the knees) and the color would be what Charlene decides on (an earthy mustard yellowish hue...think Fall colors). I guess I like how these dresses are light, flowy, and very simple, yet classy. I'm thinking chiffon...I definitely don't want to do a long dress or anything shiny/satin-y/prom-ish.

...there's also this dress. I love the lace detail on top and the empire waist totally works for my body type ;)

This is what I'm leaning towards so far. Of course I'll need the bride-to-be's approval on the final dress design. For now, I'll keep searching :)

On a Mini Hiatus

As you can tell, I haven't been blogging as much this week. I've been a busy bee at work (and once I got home from work, all I wanted to do was sleep). I'll continue to be on this mini hiatus from blogging throughout this weekend. I've got some case reports to finish and deadlines are on Monday of next week. With that being said, I hope everyone else's weekend is a more enjoyable one! (A hint of sarcasm you say? Maybe just a little...)

{I'd Rather Be...at Disneyland this Weekend}

{Tidbit Fact}

My nickname is Angel....my family has been calling me that since I was a young one. Although now, most people assume it's Angie, which I don't really like.

So Long...Long Weekend

{Location: Irvine, CA}
Ahhhh, President's Day weekend is over... and I'm heading back down to San Diego. I enjoyed my quick day trip to Riverside and thrifting adventures with Charlene & Enrique...all low key, but enjoyable nonetheless!

In the midst of thrifting and perusing around Irvine with my sister and my future brother-in-law this weekend, I was able to watch the new Winnie the Pooh movie (Charlene rented it through blockbuster online). HOW ADORABLE is this movie?!? A bit on the short side (it was a little over an hour long)....but I SO loved it! It definitely brought back my childhood memories.

{Tidbit Fact}
Pooh bear was my favorite when I was a kid. In fact, he was my very first toy...so Pooh bear (and the rest of the characters from the Hundred Acre Wood) hold a very special place in my heart.

{Love}
Sharky. He caught my attention as I was packing my stuff.

{Tidbit Fact}
I have a thing for great white sharks. I've been fascinated with them since I was a kid. Needless to say, I LOVE Shark Week! You better believe it ;)

{Location: Tomikawa Japanese Restaurant}

Before leaving Irvine, my sister and I had a nice lunch at our favorite Japanese restaurant! Mmmmmm! I got the 2 item combination lunch special for $8.95- vegetable tempura, sesame chicken, edamame, egg roll, pickled cucumbers, and of course steaming white rice. Deeeelish!

{Side Note}
I need a bento box like this.

Ready, Set...Thrift!

{Location: Irvine and Orange County, CA}
I've caught the thrifting bug! Blame it on my sister! After seeing all of the hauls she's been doing and then salvaging the clothing...I have to admit, it's a pretty shabby chic way to go. I wanted in!

Today, we went thrifting in Newport, Anaheim and La Mirada. I was learning the trick of the trade from Charlene as we were going down the aisles. I didn't realize how many things I have to keep in mind as I scour and dig through all the racks and piles.  Most of the clothes and accessories are pretty up to date, while others were very...vintage-ish & thrifty looking. The most difficult part I think is looking at the older clothing and visualizing how you can make it more modern. Luckily for me, my sister knows how to do basic alterations! So I didn't hesitate to purchase some items that needed salvaging. I'll post the before and after shots of the clothes I bought for salvaging, once Charlene finishes altering them.

{Thrift Finds}
I found these three pieces that were ready to go (no need for alterations). I'm sort of mad for plaid right now and I wanted a color block piece as well. I was also in need of a light weight jacket for spring time...and just like Brad says (from It's a Brad Brad World- love him)....a pop of color can bring your whole look together! Hauling success!

[Cobalt Blue Smock Jacket- $7.00//Color block dress- $1.50//Plum plaid button up shirt- $2.50]

I'm on a mission to accessorize the clothing that I already have...remixing looks and giving it another twist.  I'm really into stretchy belts with novel prints...they can completely change the look of an outfit.

[Stretchy safari print belt with leather front enclosure and brass buckle- $3.99]

I also bought some games/toys for my kiddos! It totally beats paying retail price! I love the fact that I can find  some decent games/toys here for my job. I worried a little bit that some of the games may have missing pieces, but that wasn't the case with the ones I purchased today  :)

{Thrift Finds}
I found three games that I know some of my kiddies will love!

[Clue Jr. Case of the Hidden Toys- $2.99//Fantacolor- $1.99//Cranium Whoonu- $3.99]

Twas a very good thrifting day indeed! All the hours of digging and scouring definitely built up our appetites. Can't go wrong with a burrito bowl at Chipotle for dinner! ;)

Our Old Stomping Ground

{Location: Riverside, CA}
With all the hoopla we've been hearing about how much UCR has changed and upgraded since we graduated- Melody, Analyn & I decided to take a trip out there during the long President's Day weekend!
So we got up bright and early, and headed out to visit our old stomping ground...Riverside. Yay for our day-cation!

The Commons lawn has gotten a new face lift over the years, I see...

{Side Note}
Next to the bell tower, this area used to be all grass. This was where our commencement ceremonies took place for our graduations. I'm a little saddened that it's not here anymore.

{Love}
We took advantage of the empty campus around us and took pictures with these huge UCR letters. No shame- yes, we are UCR alumni...yes, we were excited to be back... and yes, we miss this school. After all, this IS where our friendships began with each other :)

As we were walking through this new area (well, new to us anyway), we just couldn't believe how much has changed. Okay okay...to be honest, we were a bit jealous of the current students at UCR. I mean, where was all this when we were undergrads here? ;)

...and there's a Coffee Bean on campus now too? I repeat, jealous! Hahaha!

We were trying to find restrooms on campus...but all of them were locked down! I guess we should have expected that! We did plan a trip to UCR during a long holiday weekend...everything was closed! Booo :(
But that's okay...we still loved every minute exploring our "new" UCR.

As we turned a corner, we recognized an all too familiar place...Bourns B118! Mel & I were in this lecture hall A LOT. In addition to taking our biology and chemistry/Ochem classes here, we also had the majority of our APhiO meetings in here. We wanted to go inside, but we knew it would be locked as well.....or so we thought! Mel found one of the doors slightly ajar! Yesss!

{Tidbit Fact}
Melody, Analyn & I were all in Alpha Phi Omega (APhiO), a national co-ed service fraternity.

I don't think we were allowed to be in here, but we took this opportunity anyway! Call us criminals, hahaha! Luckily, no one saw us (whew!)...and if someone did see us, well...they didn"t stop us either ;)

{Love}
Sneaking into Bourns B118 and taking a seat one last time.

We passed by the science library on our way back to the parking lot. This building was another one Mel & I  saw a lot of....practically our second home. You know, for those all day (and sometimes all weekend), late night studying during midterms/finals week...okay okay AND the socializing! We all know everybody was up in here "studying" too ;)

I regret not hiking up to the C while I was here at UCR....um, no not really ;)

Afterwards, we wanted to visit each of our old living places/spaces. I found out that the apartments I used to live in was no longer called Quail View :(

{Side Note}
The complex itself still looked the same (with the exception of some new paint on the buildings). I lived here for 4 years, starting in my freshman year. I was one of those people who didn't dorm, by choice actually. Yeah, I would much rather live in an apartment with a few new roomies, than a whole floor full of strangers...but that's just me :)

During my last year at UCR, I moved in with Melody into this house. We lived here together for the remainder of our college year as undergrads, alongside with our other fabulous roomie, Jen.

We stopped by Analyn's house last before heading out to lunch. Ohhhh the lipsync memories at this house...I can't help but smile as I reminisce about all the times we had practicing and dancing here .

{Side Note}
For any Omegas looking at my blog, you all know what I'm talking about! :)

After passing by our old homes, we decided to have lunch at our favorite restaurant back when we were at UCR. We were crossing our fingers that this place was still in business...and it was! Table For Two was our go to place for lunch :)

{Love}
This restaurant serves excellent Thai food! I love their salad....I mean, I LOVE their salad. It tastes so friggin awesome.

Of course, we couldn't leave Riverside without going to our favorite shopping location as college students- the Cabazon Outlets! Oh yeah.

{Score}
I tried not to do too much damage here...but I did find some awesome pieces that totally caught my eye :)

[Bebe: Coral front tie blouse with lace backing- $20.00//Green empire waist tube top with front zip- $5.00]

[Gap: Black and white flats- $10.00]

Analyn went shopping for her kids Ava and Gavin in Ralph Lauren. The store set up was too cute! Look at that fire engine...and aw, the panda wants a gumball.

I was extremely happy that my friends and I were able to go back to our alma mater and re-visit our old memories and the times we've shared during our years at UCR. Also, it was great seeing the new side of UCR and how it has grown into this even more beautiful campus.  Love it...I love it all :)

Life's Celebrations: A Love Birthday

{Location: Ranch Penasquitos, CA}
Today, we celebrated my cousin Ryssa's 20th birthday today (her actual birthday was on Valentine's Day). She's a loooove child!

This little girlie...I can't get enough of. Of course I'm putting in some Mia snapshots in here :)

In The Clear

{Location: Bonita, CA}
It was such a clear and beautiful day in San Diego today. Cool breeze, sunshine, blue skies and fluffy clouds all day long...a nice change from the dreary couple of days we've been having. Don't get me wrong...I do like the occasional gloom and drizzle (key word being "occasional").

{Love}
That quaint little mountain view. I took this picture from the parking lot area where I get my taxes done. The location was on top of a hill- high enough to get a nice view of the neighboring mountain :)

Let's see, today was full of appointments and deadlines for me. I ended work early this afternoon in Point Loma (assisted one of my kiddos at his preschool this morning), went to a Starbucks in Bonita and was able to complete all of my admin/paper work there (whew!). For lunch, I had a salad with balsamic vinaigrette topped with grilled chicken, bleu cheese, candied walnuts, and craisins with a side of apple wedges (really trying to eat healthier options these days). Afterwards, I met up with my tax guy... I always file early (not too shabby this tax year...I'm just glad I don't have anything to pay back).

DONE AND DONE! Yay :)

A Revival: A Good Ol' Fashioned Engagement

{Location: My Humble Home in Chula Vista, CA}
In the spirit of the LOVE month (and yesterday being happy heart day), I wanted to post some pictures from Charlene & Enrique's engagement party from September of last year. Enjoy!

The lovebirds' dessert of choice? Doughnuts! So I set up a dessert table filled with glazed doughnuts, chocolate drizzled doughnuts and powdered doughnut holes.

[Party favors] I bought palmiers from Trader Joe's (heart shaped flaky pastries) and placed two pieces inside a baker's parchment bag, wrapped it with yarn and secured it with a bow.

[Thank You tags] With my sister's help, we also made little tags and wedged them in between the yarn. We tore pieces from butcher paper (the more raw edges the better), and stamped it with a picture of a little birdie and the phrase, "You're too sweet!"

{Side Note}
The record player pictured above is Enrique's own. This is his other love...second to Charlene ;)

In our backyard, we set up the floral arrangements, tables and other knick knack decor. All of the decor you see here belong to the crazy yet blissful couple.

[Table Arrangement] Charlene bought various greenery/shrubs from a farmer's market the day before and arranged them in quaint little vases.

[Beverage Station] We filled this table with bottled cokes (Charlene's favorite) and a water dispenser with pineapple slices in it.

We wanted to set up a picture area (I guess we can call it a "photobooth") with hanging decor. We decided to use paper ball lanterns. The paper lanterns themselves were a bit plain, so we gave it a chic and romantic twist.

[Paper Lanterns] We bought white, pink and coffee colored tissue paper (the color palette). To create the layered effect, we cut out large circles from the tissue paper and glued them all around the paper ball lantern from the bottom up.

VOILA! Our picture area!

Bride-to-be with the Maid of Honor :)

Bride-to-be with her maid of honor & 4/7 of her bridesmaids (yes, it is a big bridal party)!

{Love}
Awww...she's the first of us friends to go ;)

       {Love}                                                                          {Love}
       Already telling me what to do for MOH duties!               Too funny! Enrique totally walked in on our
       Oh dear gosh what have I gotten myself into?                  picture, asking us if we wanted ice cream! :)
        ...just kidding :) She's SO not like that!

Groom-to-be with his best man, (his brother Esteban) & 4/7 of the groomsmen

...They're SO made for each other, don't ya think? :)