Back home!
We're back, after spending 2 weeks on our honeymoon on the beautiful islands of Hawaii! We had a great time... took lots of pics, ate a lot, hung out with Kitchie and Jerry, and snorkeled, jet skiied, parasailed, and relaxed on the beach. I'll post pics eventually on ofoto, after we filter out the best ones!

Thanks to Kitchie and Jerry for taking great care of us when we were in Oahu! We got to use Kitchie's Lexus to go all over the island, stayed at 'Hotel Waialae' for free :) and ate at the best and most exciting restaurants in town... Tanaka of Tokyo, Mr. OjiSan's, Bubbies for fresh mochi ice cream, Leonard's for yummy freshly baked malasadas, Masu's Massive Plate Lunch, Angelo Pietro's, Siam Palace, L & L Drive Inn, just to name a few.... And to end the honeymoon, we had a going-away party - pre-party at Jerry's playing Kings and then off to the Hyatt for a club called Feng Shui, where - thanks to Jerry - we got in for free!! We all got drunk and passed out until the next morning!

Missing Hawaii
I miss the warm weather where you don't need to wear a jacket or sweater. Wearing shorts and tank tops all day and even at night. I love not being cold.
I miss the 5 key Hawaiian songs that play every 5 minutes on the radio stations... but thanks to Jerry, I can listen to them all day on the CD he made us!
But I'm glad to be back home... now it's time to work on our house!

Aloha!
We're here in warm Hawaii... just got off the cruise ship and hanging out at Kitchie's condo. The cruise was very, VERY relaxing... got to sleep at least 10 hours each day, took naps during the day, ate at least 4 times each day, and got to lay out in the sun (on the deck or on the beach) and got a tan. It's been heaven so far :)

This week on Oahu
We're here this whole week, gonna do lots of fun stuff. Hopefully do more shopping, since we haven't really done much so far. I'll blog more later ... and post pics! We've taken a whole bunch!

Endless smiles
I've heard many people say that we looked so happy on Saturday, and I actually remember smiling the whole time throughout the reception. I was even smiling at Bev the whole time she was singing her Tagalog song. Yes, we were happy. It was a great day.

The planner in me
I miss planning! I need an event to plan!!

Don't leave your purse in the car!
My mom's purse got stolen out of my aunt's car yesterday! She said it happened so quick, and there wasn't even any damage to the car. I guess the thieves just broke in somehow and grabbed it.

Can't wait for Hawaii
Can't wait to go on our honeymoon. Hopefully it will be very very relaxing. We both need a break from the craziness of life :)

Am I supposed to be here?
I feel like I'm not supposed to be here today at work. And everyone keeps asking me why I'm online. But at least it's not too busy today. I can relax a little and remember all the wonderful things that happened this weekend....

Thursday night rehearsal and dinner
Our rehearsal went really smoothly, with help from the wedding coordinator at the Mission. He walked us through the whole thing and explained how things happen. I used my ribbon bouquet down the aisle, and Kitchie used the other one. We also gave Heidi a few of the plastic flowers too. Afterwards, we went to the Mayflower Restaurant in Milpitas for dinner - a nine-course meal complete with honey-walnut shrimp (my fave!), soup, rice, and other yummy dishes. We passed out the bridal party/sponsors gifts and took lots of pics!

Friday last-minute errands
Friday we did some last minute things, like buying flowers at the Flower Mart in SF, making the boutonneires, getting everything ready to be transported to the church/reception, and Heidi and I picked up the bouquets from the florist. It was raining really hard that day, and I was getting a little scared that it would rain heavily on Saturday.....

Wedding Day!
Slept in my room in Hayward with Kitchie and Heidi, got up at 5am, and couldn't go back to sleep. So I took a shower, then our hair/makeup guy came in at 7am. Kitchie went first, then me, then Heidi, and others as they started coming over. Photographer and videographer came over around 9am and started taking pics. I wasn't all that stressed... just kinda relaxed and a little nervous.

The guys came over around 11am and we took more pics. Ate some sandwiches that Jerry got for us (thanks Jerry for running all our errands and taking care of a lot of things for us!!) Then got in the stretch Excursion limo around noon and it was actually sunny outside!!! So we rushed over to Stanford to take pics outside and I think we got some good ones!! Someone was definitely watching over us, because it was sunny when we took pics, but as soon as they were done, it started raining!

The Mass
Then we drove over to the Mission for the Mass. The church was so beautiful and all the decorations/flowers were in place. My bridesmaids looked exquisite in the gold dresses and their red rose bouquets complimented exactly as I had hoped. The groomsmen looked so sharp in their tuxedos with and ivory vest and tie, both sets of parents looked great, and of course, my husband looked striking :)

A little nervous walking down the aisle. I think I may have tripped over my petticoat when we first walked in. But I relaxed as the Mass went on. My mom started to cry when she gave me away at the front, so I started tearing. The Mass was beautiful - the music was great! (Thanks Bev our cantor, Sean our pianist, and the other two musicians!) Everything was perfect. My favorite songs, my favorite bible passage, and my favorite person - Alan.

We did our own vows - which I was a little nervous about - but it turned out really well....I don't exactly remember everything both of us said, but hopefully we'll be able to watch it on the video. I think we both stayed composed, even though my voice cracked a few times. Alan's vows were beautiful - thanks bubba!

Everything turned out perfect.... even the little flower girls and ring/coin bearers were sooo cute! We had to skip a few pictures afterwards, since our Mass ran a little longer than expected, but I think we took all the most important ones.

On to the reception...
Got in the limo and we were off to the Westin. Drank some champagne in the limo as we started the celebration. Checked into our hotel suite (great suite by the way! I love the Westin rooms), and rested for about 20 minutes. Then back downstairs to join the rest of the party at around 6pm. I was excited to see everyone!!

Our first dance was fun to do! We kinda choreographed it, but not the whole thing, so the last half was done on-the-fly. Kitchie, Dale, and Heidi's toasts were excellent - telling stories of us (two of them mentioned my big glasses back in the day! ??). Dale and Bev sang songs, Auds and Ben were the masters of ceremonies and did an awesome job (and they did the great slideshow too!) My dinner was good - even though I didn't get to finish it completely... we went around to most of the tables, talked to people during the money dance, cut cake, threw the bouquet and garter, and danced the night away until 12:30am (even though we only had the room til 12am)! Our DJ's were awesome!!! Email me if you need a DJ, because these guys know what they're doing and they're great to work with!

Happy
We were so happy - I hope everyone saw that in us! We had so much fun dancing with everyone!! I'm glad so many people were there to celebrate with us. Everything turned out so well - it was the happiest day of my life.

Happy New Year!
Happy 2005! Hope it's a good one :)

Vegas!
Vegas trip over the weekend was fun! The strip was totally packed on New Year's Eve... could hardly walk around without bumping into people. At one point, there were so many people packed in the same area that we weren't moving at all. It's good I'm not claustrophobic.

Thursday night we hit up Drai's, the after-hours club in Barbary Coast. Fun with the girls, drank some apple martinis and danced. Afterwards went to the restaurant that sells $2.95 late-night breakfasts - yummy. Saw the guys there too.

Friday we went shopping at Caesar's and then met up with the guys for dinner at the Aladdin Buffet. We got 'VIP' status since we had such a large group of 15. We got to pass lots of people in line and go right in. Then we gambled a little, went up to the guys room and drank and played Mafia, then went down to the strip to watch fireworks!

Saturday, got all dressed up with a veil and lei and a bachelorette-type water bottle :) and went to N9NE steakhouse at the Palms, with VIP entrace to Rain. I love that club. So fun, but packed... still had a good time.

Sunday was Alan's birthday. Happy Birthday Alan! We met up for brunch at the Bellagio Cafe and then walked around until we had to leave.

Fun weekend. Ask me for details later :)

Not so stressed?
I'm not so stressed about the wedding. I think we have everything under control... unless I'm totally missing out on something I should be thinking about... :)

In love
I'm in love with my new nephew!! We went to visit him last night and I swear I can stare at him for hours... I guess it's cuz he was quiet and sleeping too... :) Check out the collage below that Heidi made for him.