Last weekend, Mara and I went to celebrate the one year mark of our engagement. We first went up to the Marin Headlands where I proposed. The weather was absolutely gorgeous… very different than that morning I proposed to Mara. I’m sure she was thinking that morning… “why in the world is Michael taking me to the Marin Headlands when it’s so foggy???”
We followed up with a dinner at Range San Francisco (http://www.rangesf.com/). It’s the recipient of a Michelin Star for the past few years and is surprising affordable given how popular it is. The portion sizes were very good and the quality was excellent. It was a great opportunity for us to enjoy each others’ company and to reflect on what a great year it’s been for both of us.
Life, Wedding
It was just announced that Barack Obama has just won enough electoral votes to be our next President. Regardless of whether you are a Democrat or Republican, McCain or Obama supporter, young or old, liberal or conservative… you certainly have to be relieved that the past 8 years of George Bush is finally coming to an end. Without a doubt, I firmly believe that this past administration will go down as the worst in United States history. Not only have they failed to advance American values and leadership in the world, they have caused great harm to our nation.
I couldn’t help but think of the rollercoaster of emotions Barack has experienced these past few days. Tragically, his grandmother passed away a few days before seeing her grandson elected the next President. While she left this world too early, I’m sure she was already proud of Barack and all he has accomplished. Barack has to know this and I hope that he continues to lead this country with the same values his grandparents brought him up with.
Very recently, I felt very similar emotions. The day after Mara and I were married, we went up to my Grandfather’s burial site to pay my respects and to tell him that I was finally married to somebody who I love and who loves me unconditionally. I instantly broke down into tears with an empty feeling that my Grandfather wasn’t around to see me so happy. It was hard to imagine somebody who has had the hugest influence in my life, unable to make it to my wedding. I just couldn’t accept it… it should never have happened that way… he was always supposed to be with me… to see that I’ve finally found my way. I still remember that I slipped into a period of depression after he left us, and I wished that he could see me today.
It was suprising to me that I could come down from the happiest day of my life the day before…. to one of the saddest moments I have ever experienced. I will never forget that day. If Barak was as close to his Grandmother as I was to my Grandfather, I believe that I understand the emotions he is experiencing.
Life, Wedding
Yesterday Mike and I went to get our marriage license. Do this sooner if you want to have it registered at some place cool like San Francisco county =). I checked and they only take appointments and all were taken for August, the next availability being in September. City hall in SF is so nice and it would be fun to take some pictures there holding our marriage license. But anyways we ended up going to register in San Mateo County instead which has their office located in Redwood city so that was fine.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning after taking a food coma nap. The apartment looks already 100 percent better and i can see the potential of the end result. It is starting to feel like home and i love having everything I need here in Berkeley instead of in an overnight bag which I never pack fully anyways. Still trying to tackle the rest of the final details for the wedding …
Wedding
I spent my first jobless day waking up early and refreshed! This despite not being able to fall alseep until 1 am last night and yet at 8 am I was ready to get up and clean. Except that I didn’t clean my now new home because what’s the point when my new “wardrobe organizer” (aka two rolling racks ordered from Khol’s) will arrive by this Friday? Better to put it off until then when I can do it all in one fell swoop me thinks =) But in the meantime living in this mess (aka Michael’s Berkeley studio despite his great cleaning and organizing job) is sort of distracting. All my clothes, still on its hangers, are piled onto the couches.
Things for the wedding are scattered about, chocolates for the favors are in one corner, pink Victoria’s Secret boxes from my shower are in the kitchen, etc. It’ll be amazing if I can find everything we need for the wedding next week when we need it.
So even though I didn’t clean today, I did order water bottle labels for the wedding. What are these for? Well, while going over the timeline with my dad yesterday it is starting to look like people may have to kill some awkward time between the ceremony and the reception. We tried to get a later ceremony time but it just wasn’t possible and we tried to minimize the gap as much as possible but alas, there is still probably 1/2 to 1 hour at the most when people will have to wait for the reception to start. So my plan is to have lots of picture taking done at the ceremony site with our friends and family and to offer our guests bottled water. It’ll give them something for the lag time I hope. I just visited the ceremony site again yesterday too and it is still very beautiful and there is plenty of shade and places for people to mill around and chat. I am so excited about it and after picking out the music with the music director yesterday it is starting to literally “sound” like a real wedding!
Wedding
This past week has been a really busy week for my family and for Mara and me. So this means lots of updates!
Last Friday, my cousin Emily graduated from Los Altos High School. I actually haven’t stepped foot onto campus since I left in 1997, so it felt strange being back. I remember my own graduation and how I felt soooo on top of the world. After 11 years, 2 degrees (working on my 3rd), 4 jobs, and thousands of miles traveled, I’m still trying to figure things out :).
Over the weekend, Mara and I diligently worked on the invitations. I was responsible for creating the maps, which I think came out really well. I even got a compliment on my powerpoint skills from Helen, an ex-consultant! Mara was responsible for printing out the labels for addresses, printing out our reception menus, and she started the process of assembling our invites. I think the whole package looks great and we’re excited that they will be in the hands of our friends and family soon. Some of them went out this week and we’re trying to get the rest out as soon as possible.
And lastly, my brother and I took out our parents for their 30th Anniversary. We had a really nice dinner at The Village Pub in Woodside. Though I’ve constantly heard others mention this restaurant as one of the best on the peninsula, it was my first time there. I thought the service and the food were both very good, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Dining, Life, Misc., Wedding
This weekend on Saturday we had an all day marriage prep class. Surprisingly St Vincent’s Chruch in San Rafael is a huge estate and still is a school for foster boys. The church takes them in and now funded by the state, the boys undergo counseling and rehab. I was so impressed by this church’s grounds, it still is gorgeous and so pretty! They were setting up for a show that night in the courtyard and I think it makes a great place for a wedding. See some pics below.
The marriage prep class was slow but we were able to finish it one day and got the certificate. Overall I think it was not bad, the instructor was very good, we were in an interesting locale and the pre-marital counseling actually spurred some interesting conversations between the two of us.
I also had a baby shower today and posted some pics below.
Wedding
I’ve been working on wedding invitations all week. I found out that they were spelling a name with a “J” instead of a “Y”. No wonder it looked strange, and I had them change the font to two different font styles so that it would be right when in reality it was the wrong letter. Argh. Nonetheless we are close to a final sign off on the proofs, still waiting for a couple more approvals. I will be so happy when I get to see the actual pieces of paper with “Request the honor of your presence…” Hehee! This will be a big check off once done.
Wedding
Is it vain of us to have so many pictures? No. Really. We do have a lot now. And the big day isn’t even here yet. We will be receiving a big album from Taiwan and I don’t want to make another engagement album with the Adeline and Grace Photos. Seriously 
I posted a few of the pictures that I like and for the full album go to here…
www.pictage.com/435792
Event key: nguyen
You can also find this link in the right side navigation bar with the new thumbnail picture.
If you have trouble seeing the album leave a comment. Because it works fine on my computer but the website recognizes me and automatically logs me in. You may have to register with the site to view the pictures but you should be able to see the event once registered.
Wedding
Welcome to our new website. We obtained a new url and it should be a lot easier to remember than the previous one. We’ve also transferred the previous posts from googlepages to this url so it should be all here. If you like rss feeds you can also now subscribe to this blog and it will download to your Google reader or similar app.
New pictures are up from our engagement session at Catherine Wedding Photography in Taiwan! Click on the picture to the right. It turned out a lot better than I thought and I think of them as good memories of a very tiring day but good day. Enjoy!
Wedding
I met with my florist Leanne on Saturday and she seemed very nice. Again she works from her home and her pricing is close to what Loan paid. We spoke for 2 hours on what flowers, color, and all the decor that I would need. Whew. I left a deposit with her and have now started to change my mind about what I want with what I had just told her! But I’ll save her the headache and let her know all my changes closer to the date. So another good thing to check off my list, get a florist.
Wedding
We pretty much finalized the menu. We picked and chose and swapped out certain dishes until we got this modified version which hopefully our guests will enjoy! Once we go to our tasting I’ll write the reviews for these dishes. See the full menu under the Wedding information link.
Wedding
Reuben made this for me, isn’t it cool? I love it!
Wedding
I added some links under Wedding Information. The links are pretty self explanatory. I’ve been getting them from our vendors so I’ve been meaning to share. It will always be here if you need it. And yes I am going to Asia in a few weeks. Should be fun!
Wedding
Look at my schedule for the next two months:
Saturday March 1 - Il Fornaio meeting to finalize menu, then schedule a tasting
Sunday March 9- Meeting with the Church priest to fill out questionnaires, interview witnesses
Saturday March 15- DMV appointment to renew license, Invitations with Loan
Sunday March 16- Hair and Make up Trial with Aileen
March 22 and 29 weekends- Hong Kong and Taiwan
Saturday April 5- All Day Marriage prep class in San Rafael
Saturday April 12- Cake tasting at Margaret’s French Bakery
Saturday April 26- Engagement pictures
Wedding
So last Saturday Aileen joined me for my last dress shopping day. We went to Bridal Galleria in San Francisco and got lost trying to find it at the Embarcadero center. We tried on three dresses and there was only one that I sort of liked that was within my price range. But I still wasn’t sure. From there we went to Amy Kuschel Bridal again, the place where I got really excited about the dresses. It is such a nice space for a bridal dress shop. Hardwood floors and airy. We got there a half hour early and I looked through the sample rack. There were a couple dresses that I wanted to try on and unfortunately they were discontinued. The newer designs had to be rolled out and prices had gone up dramatically. I bought the second one I tried it even though the first would have been just as nice. I love it that its the Italian silk material. The below picture is what the dress looks like.
I also have my shoes already. A pair of light colored gold shoes that I bought awhile ago and I only wore it once. I’ve always felt it was comfortable and I think they complement the dress. So shoes are done and now just Jewelry!
Wedding
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