Skeptickle

At first, I had wanted to do something really creative with our Save the Dates. I’ve seen some pretty extraordinary ones around the wedding blogosphere (messages in bottles, newsletters, playbills, silk-screened tea towels, movies, etc.). I would’ve loved to sink my hands into a project like that, but then reality set in. Sending out 100 sets of any of the above would’ve costed us a pretty penny. Also, a large portion of Rob’s invitees were friends of his family or extended family that he hasn’t seen in a decade or more. Some might have forgotten who he is and most don’t know what he looks like as an adult. They certainly don’t know who I am or what I look like either. That was about one-fourth of our invitees by the way.

We loved our engagement pictures so much that we decided to go simple and use one of our favorites as our STD. It’s one of the more intimate pictures and it partially revealed our faces so that people would be able to recognize us. We photoshopped all the vital information* on one end of the photo and printed them out via Costco’s photo services. We made a whole bunch of magnets with our monogram thanks to Mrs. Pineapple’s tutorial on Weddingbee. Then we printed out envelopes, stuffed them with the 4×6 photo/cards and threw in about three of our monogram magnets.

These were a huge hit among our close friends and family. I still love how artsy it looks!

*Vital information is apparently subjective. I thought it would be important to include our first and last names. You know, for that fourth of invitees who might not know who we were? Rob had so much confidence that everyone was going to figure it out themselves via our wedding website that he only included the url to it. Turns out, pretty much no one paid any attention to that url and very few guests went on our website. We still got questioned even after the invitation packets were sent about travel and accommodations. “Lazy people = clueless wedding guest” post will be forthcoming. It sucked a$$ because I stayed up late working on that website for several weeks to make sure it has all the info guests would need. Anyways, sorry for the side rant. C’est la vie!

I believe I got ahead of myself a little bit. I’ve been posting our engagement pictures on Facebook and in my previous blog but forgot that it might be nice to post them on here. All of these pictures were taken by our photographer extraordinaire Junshien. Please credit him on all his beautiful work. We went to two different locations-Hakone Gardens and Half Moon Bay. Here are some of my favorites from that session:

{Click on the image to view the full-sized versions}

Sorry for the delay in wedding posts. It’s just that after the wedding, there’s really very little motivation to keep posting about it. I’d really rather post about all the stuff that has happened since the wedding and are much more current. However, I know that my posts are useful to future brides so I’ll just keep chugging them out. This is especially important because we just got our pro pics back a couple of weeks ago and I can’t wait to share them! Thanks for your patience!

One of the venders that we skipped on was a florist due to our budget constraints. I was pretty confident that I can make my own flowers and centerpieces for a fraction of the cost to hire someone else to do it. Keep in mind that this is not for every bride. If you’re super-anal about things looking perfect or if you don’t have a ton of time then I’d recommend hiring a florist. I heard good things about Huckleberry Karen in SF.

For our centerpieces, I needed something nature-y and romantic to fit in with the setting. It had to be simple because I wanted it to blend well with the surroundings. I’m not a fan of huge showy pieces that block people’s view of one another, at least not for my wedding. Most importantly, it had to be quick and relatively easy to assemble for our DOC.

I liked the idea of using manzanita branches for our centerpieces for several reasons. Rob and I love the smooth reddish bark, it’s so unique and beautiful. Manzanita branches are very robust so they won’t break easily and would provide a stable structure for our centerpieces. Lastly, many manzanita species are native to California so they are easy to obtain. In fact, it it weren’t illegal, we would’ve cut down a few branches from the manzanitas growing on our nearby walking trail and used those. Instead, we bought them from a guy living a couple hours away for $10 each. I’ve seen some huge ones at the SF Flower Mart selling for $30-$50 that would be great for wish trees or hanging escort cards on.

Continue reading Affordable DIY Centerpieces

For the past 10 months I found myself with a lot of time on my hands to read the books I wanted to read instead of the stuff that was assigned to me. I was able to devour about 30-40 books in that time span. Reading has always been more than just a hobby to me; it’s more like an obsession. My favorite place to go when I was young was the library, where I’d check out as many books as can fit between my skinny arms and my chin. I wouldn’t eat or sleep because books were food and rest enough for my soul. I still have trouble putting down a good book and sleeping, and would instead stay up all night to finish it. Here are five books that I highly recommend if you’re looking for something to read that’s worth sacrificing sleep over. They cover all sorts of deeper issues, like the different kinds of love, loss, forgiveness, fear, betrayal, and hope- that make you keep pondering well past the last page.

1.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Nonfiction. This book is the one that inspired me to be a locavore and to look at food in a very different way than I did before. Kingsolver was able to weave her and her family’s story with facts, recipes, and other anecdotes throughout the book, which made it both entertaining and educational. She writes with the kind of honesty and common sense that anyone can appreciate. It gives the reader a look at the trials and joys of growing a sustainable farm, enough to feed a family of four, for an entire year. What a great experiment!

2.

Peony in Love by Lisa See. Fiction, inspired by true stories. This book really revealed to me a lot about Chinese history and cultural beliefs. I have to admit that I’m a little behind on learning about my own people and there are some traditions and rituals that continue to elude me. For example, Chinese ancestral worship is something most Chinese families still practice. There are complicated rituals attached to these duties and I never fully understood what most of them were for. A good part of it was explained in this book, along with a detailed snapshot of what life was like in 17th century China. You can tell that the author did her research and I’m looking forward to learning more from her other novels.

3.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Fiction. I’m so glad to find an author who understands (aka is obsessed) with books as much as I am. The circumstances are puzzling until the main character starts uncovering the truth piecemeal. This book read like a good mystery movie with a delicious plot twist towards the end. The characters are well-developed and original. I can’t rave enough about this one!

Continue reading Book Recommendations

The first time I made lemon squares was right after high school when I lived for awhile in Berkeley. Our neighbor had a lemon tree that grew over the fence until it hung over the yard of my apartment building. I would take a couple lemons to make lemon squares using the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. To this day, I still use a variation of that recipe to make lemon squares. I’ve once tried to make lemon squares from a box, and let me tell you, it tasted absolutely gross and fake to me. The lesson from that is: always use fresh lemons! My family now lives in a house that has a lemon tree in the backyard and it’s been producing lemons like crazy. Sometimes they send me home with a huge paper bag full of them just so they don’t go to waste. To say the least, I’ve been trying to incorporate lemons into a lot of the dishes I make. However, I always come back to this classic recipe. Enjoy!

Photo from marthastewart.com

Note: This recipe is doubled to make thicker bars, which is what I like personally. If you like thinner ones then halve the amount of each ingredient and reduce the amount of cooking time to 35 minutes (15 mins for crust, 20 mins for crust & filling) at 350℉.

Lemons Bars (adapted from the BH&G New Cookbook)

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 325℉. In a large bowl, beat softened butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar; beat until combined. Mix in the 2 cups flour until crumbly. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 7 x 11 inch baking pan (you can also use a 9 x9 inch pan). Bake for about 18-20 mins or until golden.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and baking powder. Beat 2 minutes or until combined.

Pour filling over baked crust. Continue baking 35-40 minutes or until the center is set (test by jiggling the pan a little and/or inserting a toothpick into the center). Cool for about an hour. Sift powdered sugar over the top and cut into squares or bars to your desire.