Hey Juneeeee..... Don't make it bad.......

Can you believe it's freakin' JUNE already????

I am to be wed in two months!!!! Aghhh!!!!! That's 60 days people. 60. Freakin'. Days.

Okay here's my lazy bimonthly recap for all you ponderers out there!

So once in a while, I'll let myself have a lazy day. On such days, it's just me and the gazelle. And Ellen DeGeneres. Obvi.

Couch partner. He knows he's not allowed to have all four paws on the couch.

But he'll plop his head down.

I've pretty much been making a to do list of five things everyday to complete in order to keep myself from slipping into total bumhood. My current to do list looks like this:

- Call Kati to confirm florist for the wedding.
- Study for GREs
- Follow up with nursing jobs
- Rehearsal dinner invitations!
- Thank you cards!
- Schedule appointment with immigration lawyer!

Not too shabby for a certified bum if I could say so myself. I have gotten a few more leads regarding potential jobs so keep your fingers crossed folks! Potential RN recruiters out there! HIRE ME! It'll be the best decision you ever made! :)

Doug's birthday was on the 24th, so Jane being the wonderful wife and mother she is, whipped up a delicious chocolate cake! She's such a great domesticated role model! Observe!

Momma Jane bakin' up Doug's 30th Birthday Cake!

Beautiful!

 Can you say STUNNING?!?!!? I LOVED THIS CAKE! It was soooooo moist and deeeeeeeelicious! And that's saying a lot especially since I'm not much of a chocolate fiend (I know I know, such blasphemy!). It was certainly a hit with the birthday boy!

Happy 30th Doug!

 Of course it never hurts to throw in some birthday bruschetta.

Birthday Bruschetta

Then Jane introduced me to some new greens. I present to you -- FIDDLEHEADS! Check these crazy things OUT! -- WILD!

My first encounter with these creatures.

I was surprised by how mild they tasted. They honestly taste like... green... stemy..... plants. Sauteed with some olive oil and salt. Yum yum yum!

On Friday of Doug's birthday week, the roomies, and Brian and I went to Bon Iver's concert at Deer Lake Park. Amazing amazing amazingggggg concert! And the venue was impeccable. As well as the weather! It was such a beautiful day! 

Stunning park. Stunning venue.

Bon Iver Concert at Deer Lake Park!

Roomie rockin' out!

 

Happy at Bon Iver show!

Couple numero dos! Cherise and Dan!

Couple numero tres!

Bon Iver is great live and he always plays with so much passion and soul, it kills me how good he is! My only regret was that the show was under two hours long because the park had a 10pm curfew which totally blows for a Friday night -- and for a Bon Iver concert! I could have listened to him croon for hours and hours....

Saturday was another beautiful sunny day. It was PERFECT for a picnic on the beach! So Brian and I packed up a lovely meal of spaghetti, popcorn, pears, carrots, almonds, and pepero and hit up Kits Beach! We spent a few hours just basking in the west coast sun, read snippets from "Fifty Shades of Gray" (Which Brian refused to continue to partake in after the first few pages) and then met up with some family and friends for gelato and sunset Kits Beach busking.

Picnic at Kits Beach!

Kits Beach

Great gelato marketing.

Kits Beach entertainment.

Sunday morning was just as nice as the other days so we took the opportunity to take Arthur to the park that is conveniently located directly in front of the house. Arthur's grandmother Heather was in town and joined in to do some grandson bonding.

Lady Bug + Babies = Deadly cute combo

Mulchy times.

Hangin' with Gia!

Happiness.

Jane's been eying Arthur's hipster baby 'do with some disdain so she finally mustered up the courage to do something drastic about it. I must say, she did a pretty darn good job at chopping off his locks! He looks like a little boy now! Like a mature 1 year old! So handsome!

Haircut!

During the week, I try to take every opportunity to get outside when the weather is anywhere decent (pretty much meaning it's not pouring outside). My favorite type of hike? Baby backpacking! My favorite backpack? Arthur! He's an awesome hiking buddy! I can't neglect Dalton as well. They both are amazing hiking company and believe you me, they give me a GREAT workout. I'm usually sweating my brains out by the time we're done. I daresay that Arthur enjoys the walks a touch more than I do.

Backpack baby.

Hiking buddy.

Now that summer is pretty much in full swing here in the city, there are lots of things going on. One of my favorite summer events is the Richmond Night Market. Brian and I went to it last year and had a great time perusing through all the kiosks and vendor stands. The best part about these night markets has got to be the FOOD. Hands down.  This year, the Chinatown in downtown Vancouver started its own night market for the first time. Of course Brian and I had to scope it out. We learned that a night market isn't a night market without.......

CHINATOWN NIGHT MARKET IDOL.

That's right. A singing contest. In Chinese. With older contestants. In sequined suits. Oh. Yeah. The talent wasn't too shabby for being in the middle of the street. But like I said, the entertainment is great and all, but I'm there for the FOOD. And I wasn't disappointed. What's better than a corndog from a street vendor? A DEEPFRIED BATTER COVERED GARLIC AND PARMESAN FLAVORED CORNDOG from a street vendor! Oh YEAHHHHHHHHHH!

Deepfried corndogs.... Mmmm....

So this past weekend was the day of my SECOND West Coast Bridal Shower and what a GLORIOUS shower it was! We arrived on the Island on Saturday and indulged in a lavish wedding wine tasting with the FSIL and Momma Gregg. Me, having the curse of alcohol intolerance, volunteered to be the unbiased judge and poured the mystery drinks for everyone to taste and comment on. In the end, Momma Gregg's wine selections won best taste awards and wines have officially been decided!

Wine tasting in Victoria. That's right. Some of these will be yours at the wedding you lucky guests you!

Sunday (yesterday) was the day of the bridal shower so Brian and I got up early to attend church with Momma Gregg and then stopped for a nice chai break at a local cafe while waiting for the festivities to begin.

Chai times.

And what a festive shower it was! I was quite overwhelmed by the number of people that showed up, especially since I didn't quite know the majority of the guests there! Once I found that I recognized a few faces (and had the worst time remembering names!) and had some of the yummy yummy food, I got into my usual diva mode and had no trouble donning a crown, strapping on the biggest bra I've ever seen in my life, and basking in the center of attention. The gifts were countless, the laughs filled the room, and my shower bra blossomed into a beautiful bouquet of bows and ribbons. I was totally in my element!

West Coast Bridal Shower!

Did I mention that there was the most splendid cake I had ever laid my eyes on? It's from a local bakery called Murchies and it is just DIVINE. The cake is layered with marzipan (which I like wayyyy better than fondant) and had raspberries, cherries, and other sweet yummy goodness in it. It was a piece of heaven!

Marie Antoinette Cake from Murchies!

 The two hosts were absolutely wonderful. Jane and Anna were complete strangers to me but managed to throw me a shower that made me feel as if I was at home with my family! And I can't forget the efforts and labor of Momma Gregg and my fabulous FSIL! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Not every bride gets to be so lucky as to experience TWO bridal showers!

My lovely hosts!

So it's Monday and Brian and I are getting ready to catch the 5 o'clock ferry back over to the mainland. It was a fantastic weekend and I am feeling slightly guilty over my negligence to my GRE studies but tomorrow is a new day and I'll be back on the grind!


I'm wishing everyone out there a fabulous week! YOLO people, YOLO! :)

LENA KANG IS THE BEST THING TO HAVE EVER HAPPENED TO ME

So last night, a small group of my friends went out to Sushi Sumo for the last time before Brent and I shipped out to our respective foreign countries. Dinner goes well, I had just ordered dessert (Mochi balls... yummmm), when Lena comes to sit down at my end of the table.

She says, "Do you want me to propose to you?"

"Umm. What?"

"Do you want me to propose to you?"

"Depends on what you're proposing."

Then she proceeds to whip out THIS:

No words.

Seriously, I was speechless for about 5 seconds because I couldn't believe the blingblastic thing in front of me. Lena had made my wedding bouquet!!! Out of vintage brooches that she shopped for individually! I couldn't believe it! She had apparently started buying brooches last year at various marketplaces and the bouquet took over 100 hours of actual labor to assemble. I know. RIDONKULOUS. I was seriously at a loss for words not only because of how gorgeous the thing was but also because I was just so touched and overwhelmed at how much effort and work Lena put into making this bouquet for me. Over 100 hours of labor? That's a lot of love. 


Now if I could only convince her to bake my wedding cake...... :)

One happy bride-to-be!

MOVE OVER MARTHA STEWART. LENA KANG IS GONNA GIVE YOU A RUN FOR YOUR MONAYYY!

Laziness is my current addiction... And wedding rings have been purchased!!!

So for the first time in my life, I am unemployed and not enrolled in any classes and life. is. good.

That's right. I am a certified bum.

Granted I'm a novice bum since I've only been a bum for approximately a day and a half now but I think I'm doing a pretty darned good job of bummin' it. I slept in past noon yesterday, watched youtube videos for hours, ate ramen noodles that I MICROWAVED (not even boiled! go lazy me!), but then finally started doing some errands at around 3:30pm.

My first errand was to meet up with the madre at the mall to buy some wedding rings. My parents have insisted over and over again that they buy the rings because that was their duty. Sometimes. I like this whole "Asian duty" thing. :)  But only when it doesn't involve me having to cook or clean or give sponge baths.

Anywhoozlies. We bought the rings. And I RUV mine! I've been looking for a wedding ring for quite some time now and I couldn't BELIEVE how difficult it is to find something that compliments the scalloped edge of my engagement ring. I love my engagement ring because of all the intricate details but geez! Nothing matches it completely! Tacori does offer a wedding ring that is supposed to complement this ring but it looks like a regular, straight-line eternity band and costs a mere $1,800! Yes. Not happening. So maybe one would consider it settling, but I found a great ring that I love that isn't 100% a match for my engagement ring but I think I could still pull it off... for the rest of my life. Plus the ring was soooooo affordable. Like ridiculously affordable. And that was definitely a selling point since I wasn't trying to break my rentals' bank.

So without further ado... Here are the exclusive photos for all you dedicated followers! :)

The man ring

Mine!

Too much jelly?

solo.

What do y'all think? Too much? Not enough? Return the ring ASAP?!?! I'd appreciate the input! I'm partially tired of looking honestly, but I suppose I am gonna be stuck with this thing for the rest of my life!!!

I'm off to do an hour and a half body-wrap thing that I got a certificate for... I'll let you know how the results turn out! :)

Check this ISH out!

Dear Niecy Nash,

Thank you for changing my life with your out-of-this-world wedding shoes.

Not only are they maddeningly fabulous -- the designer is located in the one and only state of Delaware.

One-of-a-kind, custom created.

This is a SURE. THING.

Check out Glam-Luxe shoes.

Watch this clip to see these shoes featured on The View:

SHOE-GASM IS RIGHT, SISTA! :D

My newest toy and FIVE more dresses!

Dude. I am totally converted.

I am obsessed with my new french press thermos (Thank you fabulous future sister-in-law).

So. Pretty.



Essential for my mornings at the hospital.

 Definite recommend.

So yes, I am back to my busy bee little self. I had an orientation this morning at a veterans' hospital for the psychiatric ward there and then I had the rare occasion of having the afternoon off so Anneliese and I decided to hit up a bridal boutique for some more dress try-ons! Yayyyy!

For your viewing pleasure:

I forgot the name of this brand but the company not in business anymore anyways.

A very popular Maggie Sottero dress.

Don't remember the brand but it was my first taffeta dress!

Such lovely details!

An older Maggie. Twas vintage-pretty.



Honestly. Mags has the BEST destination gowns!

 I think this brings my dress count total to.... around 80ish? I've tried on a CRAPLOAD of dresses! HOLY MOLEY. I am still feeling like I haven't found "THE ONE" but just like the whole venue searching fiasco, I'm sure I'll cave at some point and pick a dress that I'm content with and slowly fall in love with it more and more as we get closer to the wedding date (I'm ECSTATIC about our Vancouver Art Gallery venue now!). All I have to do in the meantime is start saving up for my gown down payment!


Other exciting wedding news: The first wave of invitation samples are being sent to my house on Wednesday! SOOOOOOOOO looking forward to picking out the PERFECT invite and getting them out to my guests. Brian is working on the catering options and we've pretty much narrowed down our choices to two caterers (Culinary Capers and Savoury Chef). I'm leaving it up to Brian and Mama Gregg to do the tasting honors and determine which is better! Hopefully the menu will be setttled upon within the month and I will be able to get the invites out no later than November!!! We are well on our way! :)

Tomorrow will be GRUELING. I work the morning 7a to 3:30p shift at the hospital and then have to trudge on over to CIGNA for a few more hours. It's pretty much gonna be a minimum 12 hour work day. Whelps. Gotta start makin' that dough in order to supplement my painfully fabulous tastes!  Cheers to makin' that PAYPURR. Let it rain! :)

This might be a slight overkill.....

So yeah. Wedding bands are supposed to be simple and symbolic within themselves but......


CHECK OUT THIS BEAUTIFUL BAND FROM DE BEERS. Buh-LINGGGGG!!!!

Hubba hubba.

Just sayin'. :)

Beachiness and BLING!

Hit up the beach this weekend and got my sun on! We have been experiencing PERFECT beach weather the last few days and we were itchin' to take advantage of it!

I went with my gf Brooke, Brent, and Uche. It was pretty much a last hurrah before classes start on Monday. BOO.

I have another weekend at the beach planned for this  upcoming weekend with Lena, Grace, et al. and I'm going to try not to exacerbate the low grade skin cancer that I may have acquired from yesterday's sunny debauchery.

For the reading impaired, I present to you visuals:

On our way!

Claw times.

At destination!

Da boys!

No swimming is right.

Beachin it.

Watch model in the making.

Best angle.

Beach babes.

Our chauffeur and body guard.

Thai food makes them lovers.

Sexy.

Sexy.

Setting trends.

Work it girl.

So vogue.

Fab.

So I personally did not end up going into the water because it was FUH-REEZING. Brent and Brooke took a short dip or two. Those brave souls. After soaking up some sun we shopped at all the cute little boutiques on the main strip of the boardwalk and then headed to the outlets.

I had the brilliant idea of getting Brooke to look at some ring bling simply for research purposes and fun, harmless ring try-ons (Brooke is in a pretty lovey-dovey relationship with Robert and they are THE cutest couple EVER!!!). It never hurts to look, ladies! :)

Check out the bling she picked:

If you look carefully, the center "diamond" is made up of 10 little diamonds.

Bit on the yellow side.

Cool setting though!

2 carat ROCK.

Side view.

MY ULTIMATE FAVE. The TRILLION CUT. PERFECT FOR BROOKE!!!

Gorgeous and unique! Just like Brooklyn! :)

Anyways, after we got back from Rehoboth beach, I needed some serious downtime, I was exhausted! I watched the end of the Boston v. Canucks game and Canucks win in overtime!!!!!! AWESOME!!!! I've been seriously jumping on the Canucks bandwagon. They've never won a Stanley Cup in franchise history and I think they are WELL on their way to winning their first one! So exciting! Vancouver is really making its mark! :)

Sunday funday is not going to be all fun and games. Classes start tomorrow and we have a freakin' quiz on the first day (Is that legal?). Annie comes home from upstate NY tonight so we'll all be gettin' together to have dinner and then the rest of the night will probably be dedicated to med calculations. Sigh. The fabulous lives of nursing students. It'll be all over in 6 months! It's the homestretch! :)