I confirm I was Confirmized...

I went to Good Shepherd this afternoon to request a copy of our Confirmation Certificate.  Ms Patty was very helpful as always.  I couldn't remember the year I was confirmed but after some fuzzy math I managed to narrow down the years.  We looked in the books, we looked in the database, even under my parent's registry and couldn't find it the first couple of times, mainly because of my confusing name.  We did end up finding it and Patty printed me a copy.  She was also nice enough to print Dave's paper work too.  
 
Dave still have to get his Baptism paperwork at Holy Family and my mom made a call to Vietnam to request my Baptism paperwork.  

YAY... Two more things to check off the list :)  

It's a "Hard Rock" Life...

 

Happy Birthday DAD!  

The family drove up to Irvine to pray for my grandparents.  It was nice to hang with some of the cousins, haven't seen them since our Vegas trip over the summer.  We definitely have to plan something again this year.  

Maria and I left Irvine and decided to drop by 85 degrees to pick up some taro rolls but the line was more ridiculous than normal so we decided to just head home.  Gotta meet Angela and Dave to carpool down to Hard Rock.  

Found sweet parking just a block away for only $1 per hour.  

First stop was straight for the bar ahahah gotta put it on the roof huh? well stairs are definitely going to stop me from sangria...  drinks all around!  we checked out some appetizers and sweets and I think there was a table top competition between the vendors.  I was too occupied with showing Dave the ropes of Bridal events that I didn't take as many pictures as I should have.  This is Dave's first bridal event and he was definitely not interested before during or after HAHAH

Well we checked out everything, I got my hair did.  Watched the fashion show which was hilarious, my favorite was the flower dress? hahaha not really that was pretty ..um... unique.  Checked out some bouquets, I didn't realize how heavy they are.. man gotta think of how to carry this sucker around.  
We did get a lot of pictures from all the photo booths so that was pretty fun.  
Thanks Ang, Maria and Dave for spending a wonderful day doing all the girly things with me :)

First Date

Friday after work we headed to Barona to have our first meeting with Father Michael to start the Marriage Preparation Program.  According to San Diego's Diocese, preparation must start at least 9 months before the wedding.   For more info check out http://www.diocese-sdiego.org/2009MFLMain.html 

Some general requirements include: 

-Pre Cana Prep Program (one Saturday)

Option 1: Evening for the Engage (meet once a week for 6 weeks)

Option 2: Engaged Encounter Weekend (Friday thru Sunday)

 -Natural Family Planning Course

-Copy of your Baptism 

-Copy of Confirmation

Just a little advice if you're planning to get married in a Catholic Church ANY time in the future.  Start looking at parishes you're interested in and become members immediately because the majority of the parishes requires a minimum of at least 1 year of membership prior to even starting Preparation requirements (that means at least 2 years prior to your wedding date).  

This will save you a lot of $$$ when you reserve a church for your ceremony.  Sad to say that the price difference to reserve a church for members and non members can be a difference of on average of ~$500.  Also start saving at least another ~$500 for all the preparation program requirements. 

I guess this is only if you don't intend to get married at a parish your parents are already members at because you can get the reduced price that way.  

So far, this blog has only mentioned costs but in actually I'm really looking forward to all the preparation courses and requirements.  I think it'll be really nice to spend time with Dave and get to know each other as we travel towards preparing not only for our wedding but rather for our marriage.  

Remember what's important during this whole process, it's just practice for the real thing, right?  I mean come on, how to balance and manage a budget, how to compromise, how to resolve conflict and the most important lesson of all is accept all the flaws, appreciate all qualities and unconditionally love "the one" you choose to be with for the rest of your life. 

I choose you pookie :)

 

Happy Birthday Cha Xuan

 

Background: Cha Xuan (Father Michael) is a great family friend of both sides of our family.  He does house blessings, baptisms and wedding renewals for many of our family members.  Dave is also the Godfather for Fr. Michael's nephew in Vietnam.  Father Michael is currently at the Barona Indian reservation parish - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  

Today is Cha Xuan's birthday, it's also an excuse to invite both sides of the family together for a nice family dinner.  After work, I went to pick up a cake and ran a few errands for Dave's mom before coming over to help.  

Dave's family prepared so much food, thai hotpot, tuna sashimi, fried tofu, and steamed asparagus.   Mom brought over seafood fried rice and fried bananas.   It was really nice to just hang out, even Jessica was home because of spring break.  We all caught up and shared stories through the night.

After the birthday cake, Cha Xuan had to head home since he had the farthest drive back to the reservation.  Dave took the opportunity to thank him for coming and asked him to share our journey and be our presiding priest for our wedding ceremony.  He happily accepted and we are all excited for what lies ahead.    

Since San Diego Diocese requires 9 months of preparation prior to the wedding I guess we'll be visiting Barona quite often, Dave will probably enjoy this more than I will but I'm sure Cha Xuan will remind us to make a "right" before the "left".  (The church is a right at the light and the casino is a left at the same light)

   

Launch Party

 

The Launch Party took place at Rancho Bernardo Inn, I attended this event with mom and my sister. This is the first time I've been here and my first impression in the parking lot was wow this would be horrific if we had a wedding here!  The parking spaces were ridiculously small and the spaces weren't even slanted.. it was just really hard to get in and out.  On the way here I was cut off by some chick trying to get to this same event.. geez relax! 

We went through the lobby and no one was really around, there was a map to all the events that were going on that night so we followed the signs to the boonies of the Inn.  It's probably the farthest corner you can go away from the parking lot.  I understand it's a great idea for potential clients to see the landscape but I was definitely not prepare to hike half a mile down hills and stairs to get to this event.  

We finally made it and at the door,  each bride got a cute tote bag filled with goodies from spa treatments to Red Velvet Cupcake from Sprinkles *probably one of the few best things of the night*  Sucks that not all the guests got totes because when we were leaving, we saw so many extra bags left over. 

Through the doors, there was a cash bar to the right...a complete turn off since you even had to pay for water ($4.00 for a little bottle), we did manage to hunt down a server with complimentary champagne.  To the left was a line to the appetizers... chicken skewers and a few other choices like cold salads.  The food was mediocre. 

 There were also a few desserts choices on the back wall, this one was chocolate mousse in a chocolate tulip cup. 

After all the tasting we started to visit the vendors, some girl holding a plate of food and her glass of champagne, trying to eat, walk and drink all at the same time... walked by and spilled half of her drink on my purse and didn't even say sorry.  ARGH!  what the heck!   

The event was overall pretty nice, there were 4 girls modeling wedding dresses, and changed quite a few times.  The vendors were ok but nothing extravagant.. 

I did however got a chance to see a potential vendor I had emailed a few days earlier and was quite impress with their work so fingers crossed that I'll be able to incorporate them into our wedding.  After making the rounds and staying through the raffle, we were ready to leave and hoping to skip the madness in the parking lot.   

There were a few BLAH moments tonight, I guess these things are hit or miss, but who can really complain when attending a complimentary event.  Thank you Maria and mom for coming with me, I love spending time with you guys.   

Bling Bling

Poor David is sick so he didn't go to work or class today...  After work, I picked up some medicine and juices to hopefully make him feel better.  We decided to go to dinner at Pho Cali because Chicken Curry is only offered on Mondays and Fridays.  Just when our food came out, our jeweler called saying the ring was ready.   Even though it's already 4:30 and they close at 5, they said they'll wait for us to get there.  We asked for to go boxes and rushed out.  We had to go back to Dave's house to pick up the GIA paperwork that had the ID#.  Luckily, there were no traffic and we made it there pretty quickly.  
On inspection, I noticed a little diamond on one of the corner was missing and we were asked to wait while they fix it.  This gave us some time to check out wedding bands, Dave was trying out some different styles and the cute thing was his hands started shaking hehehe nervous already? it wasn't even forreals yet, he's so funny.  (If you ask Dave he'll say that it's because his hands naturally shakes and that he was sick.. but we know the truth.)

A few minutes later, my ring was finally done!
  
It was BEAUTIFUL!  Just as we both wanted it.  I love everything about my ring and the more I look at it, the more I fall in love with it.  It's not necessarily the ring that I'm in love with,   But rather, I'm in love with the LOVE that Dave has for me....he picked out the perfect diamond, and created the perfect setting, all because he wanted to make me happy.  What a sweetheart! I couldn't ask for a better man to spend the rest of my life with ~SWOON~ 

 

Searching for the Holy Grail

We had a few hours to spare before Rosie's 30th birthday so we decided to go and check out possible churches.  Thank  goodness that we live in San Diego because the Diocese of SD has an awesome website. 

St. Joseph Cathedral

On the corner of 3rd and Beech, you are greeted by beautiful iron steps leading up to massive wooden doors that opens up to long rows of beautiful white columns lining both sides of the isles. (I'm a sucker for steps because it's great for photo opt!)

.

I love the wood work of the ceiling and the beautiful stained class windows brought in a wonderful amount of natural light.  This is one of the few "Cathedral" in San Diego and it's definitely grand inside.  If you want the dramatic entrance, this will definitely do since there were at least 25 rows of seats.   Excellent for a large bridal party...

 

                                                                            Right down the street in "Little Italy" on Columbia and Date is a little church called Our Lady of the Rosary.   This tiny little church is wonderful, my favorite so far!

Beautiful floor to ceiling stained glass windows depicts one of the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary.  Gorgeous painting on the walls and ceiling reminds me of churches seen in Europe.  I like how it's very quaint and because it's so petite, it's warm and personal.    CLICK HERE --> Virtual tour of OLR

We swung by Old Town where we visited the Immaculate Conception on San Diego Avenue.  Did you know that two of the original bells of the San Diego Mission - one is located in the Mission San Diego de Alcala in Mission Valley and the other is here in the bell tower of Immaculate Conception in Old Town.   

We then visited a few more church that on first glance we knew wasn't for us: We went to St. Vincent de Paul on Hawk and Lewis.  I would describe it as very contemporary and minimalist.    Saint Charles Borromeo in Point Loma was too huge.  The Immaculata in USD was nice but I didn't feel any sentimental connection to it.             The search continues as we try to figure out the right place to have our wedding ceremony.  This is definitely next task on the TO-DO list.  

 

Our FIRST Contract!

Afterwork, I met Dave at our jeweler because our setting was suppose to be finished.  There were a few issues that needed to be ironed out but we did hand over our precious diamond to be set.  It's tough to leave something so valuable with someone else... but we trust them! We were told it would take a few more days to get the diamond set.  So, hopefully I'll have my ring soon... It's not like two months is a long time or anything hahaha.  The whole process has definitely been a roller coaster ride, filled with loops and spins, and surprises around every corner but with my fingers crossed I hope the end product will be definitely worth the wait.  

I know it hasn't been easy for Dave because everyone including myself has given him such a hard time about the ring and there were a lot of things that were out of his control.  Dave is such a trooper for putting up with everything and I love him so much because he always just want to make me happy.  He's the sweetest fiance anyone can wish for!       

Since we're pretty set on our date, something Dave and I have been doing for the last few weeks was searching for possible venues for our reception.  We've ran into a few issues because our guest list is so ginormous, not too many places can accommodate.  Also, because we want the traditional banquet menu, it really limits our options to just a few places around San Diego.  We probably visited 6-7 Chinese restaurants in the last few weeks, tasting and interviewing potential vendors.  The top three factors we took into considerations: 

-Quality of food.

-Space and flexibility of the venue.

-Our impression of the banquet coordinator. 

The top two factor is quite obvious but we felt the third factor is also pretty important.  Considering how this is the largest cost of our wedding, I would not have been happy to hand over such a large amount of money so someone who didn't care or appreciate us as their clients.  There was one venue that stood out above the rest.  It met most of what we were looking for and we felt this was the right place for us.   Phil met us here after work, we asked a few more clarifying questions, he made sure we didn't miss anything. Then, Dave and I made the first and biggest commitment as a couple!  We signed the  contract for the venue where our wedding reception will be held.  After everything was set, we had a great dinner with Phil.  What a wonderful way to end the week.  

If you're looking for questions to ask a caterer, here are some to keep in mind:

1. What types of food do they offer for hors d'ouerves? For the main course? For dessert?

2. Can I sample the menu?

3. Is there a fee for a sample tasting?  How many people can we bring along?

4. What are the prices for custom menu?

5.  What is your leftover policy?

6.  Will you provide special meals for any children who attend, and is there a discounted charge for them?

7. Will the caterer provide any necessary rentals: tables, place settings, linens, chairs, plates, silverware, serving pieces, lazy susan, etc?  Is there a dance floor? are lighting included? other equipment/charges?

8. What color and style of linens, glasses, plates, and accessories are available? Ask to see samples.

9. Are they catering other weddings on my wedding day?

10. How many types of staff will the caterer provide -- waiters, bartenders, bussers, etc.?  How many servers per guests?  What is the dress code for the staff? What is the staffing fee? (including bartenders, waiters etc.)

11. Are you able to supply a full bar? What is the fee for liquor? If we want to provide our own wine, champagne, and liquor, do you charge a corkage fee? are sodas for each table included?

12.  If we provide the cake, do you charge a cake cutting and serving fee?

13. Will food be provided for the other vendors -- the photographer, planner, videographer and band?  Is there special prices for these vendors?

14. When will I need to finalize the menu?

15. When will they need a final head count? Does the headcount include wedding professionals at the event (photographers, DJs, etc.)?  

16. Are tax and gratuities included in the food prices? If not, what is the tax and gratuity charge?  Is the set-up and clean-up included in the final price?

17. What is the length of the facility rental? When can we start set-up? When is the last song? Is there an overtime fee if our wedding reception lasts longer?  Dimensions of Dance Floor:  Dimensions of Room: Separate Cocktail Room:

18. Is there a fee for security personnel?

19. How much is the deposit needed to hold the date?  When is the first payment? When is the final balance due?  What type of payment do you accept?

20.  Can we see a copy of your standard contract?

21. What is the cancellation/refund policy?  Do you offer restaurant credit?

22.  Can we see pictures of previous events, and speak to former clients for referrals?

23.  Will you be the person personally handling my wedding on my wedding day? If not, what is the name of the person who will, and when can I meet them?

    

'Holy' Tamoli

Our mission for the day was to look for a church to have our catholic ceremony.  We went with our moms and our first stop was San Rafael in Rancho Bernardo.  Even though the color of the benches were a little off and it's not as new as some of the other churches, the feeling I got was very warm and cozy.  My favorite aspect was probably panels of stained glass windows of the stations of the cross.  

In case you don't know, there are lots of stipulations in order to reserve a church in the San Diego Diocese.  

For San Rafael, here's are a few rules: The bride or groom or the mother/father of the bride or groom must be a registered parishioner of San Rafael Parish for at least one year prior to the time of the first meeting with the Priest/Deacon to discuss the prospective wedding. For marriage preparation, first contact the parish office, nine months in advance to make an appointment with the Pastor, at which time the wedding date and specific time will be discussed. Wedding times are Saturdays at 10:00 a.m., 12:00 noon or 2:00 p.m. There are no weddings on Sundays.

Next, we went to St. Michael in Poway and if you've ever been to Good Shepherd in Mira Mesa, this is very similar layout except smaller. 

Our moms had errands to run so we dropped then off and we were off on our own.  

 

Next we went to Mission Basillica San Diego de Alcala, California's first church founded in 1769.  Walking around the grounds, you can feel the history and how amazing it is to still see items like one of the bells dated back to 1802.    

Dave and I then took a little a little break and went groceries shopping at Zion then decided to go visit a church in La Jolla.  I wanted to grab some Korean food in the food court but told Dave it's getting late and we can just go to the church and eat something after since it'll be closer to dinner.  

We were around Convoy and had to take the 52 West, as we tried to get out of the inside lane, the car in front of us suddenly swerved to the left because there was a wooden crate in the middle of the lane.  We tried to do the same but were blocked in by a car driving right next to us.  We ran directly into it immediately pulled over.  There was a 3-4 inch gash on the side of our tire and liquid was leaking from under the car.  Yikes!  

Dave immediately went to work to put on the spare, what a good fiance.  A motorcycle officer pulled over a few minutes later to see if we were okay.  He reminded us that we were lucky because a flat tire is much better than a crash.  He took down our licenses plate.. asked again if we were okay and drove off.  I wonder why he had to take down our plates?

We were pretty done for the day, we didn't get to see the church in La Jolla, maybe it was a sign that it wasn't meant for us or maybe it was a sign that we should have gotten korean food hahaha either way, we went home.  

Even though this is going to be costly to replace and we can definitely use the money for our wedding, I feel very bless considering the situation.  When the tire blew out, it was still pretty bright outside, so we were able to change the tire pretty quickly.  Also, the weather has been gloomy all day and luckily it has not started rain yet, it sure did a few hours later.  Oh yeah, my spare was flat but somehow we managed to get home safe and sound.

What's the lesson for the day? Don't cry over spilled milk.  Count your blessings because it could have been much worse.     

Amazing Race: David & Marilyn Edition - Episode 3 - 2nd Leg - Voyeur

 

Click Here --> Amazing Race: David & Marilyn Edition - Episode 3 - 2nd Leg - Voyeur

Manufactoring Failure

Click Here --> manufactoring failure & quality control

 Our jeweler called us this afternoon and told us our ring is not ready yet once again.  This time the reasoning was manufacture was unsatisfied during quality control that it was not even worth showing it to us.  He expressed how embarrassed he was and in 28 years in the business, this has never happened.  There was nothing he can say except offer us a refund or asked us provide him another chance to complete the project. 

Honestly, I was quite fed up.  All the unmet deadlines and promises of pick up dates made me feel as though we're unimportant.  It made me even more erked, especially after reading all the wonderful reviews from yelp of how orders were rushed to make deadlines and so on and so forth.  

As I vent to my little sister, she said "The length of time you're waiting for this ring is like the length of time you waited to get engaged" 

Hm.. what an interesting comment.  We decided on our jeweler for the many qualities that attracted me to Dave. Our Jeweler is an honest family man, he and his wife are warm and kind during all our visits.  They really tried their best to make us happy and due to circumstances, it hasn't gone as smoothly as I thought it would.  In a relationship there are always ups and downs, I feel that as long as good intention is the focal point then everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves.  

We decided to stick it through and the new promised date is next Friday.  

Lesson #1: Life is a marathon, not a 'Sprint'.