I guess it's time to stop stressing and starting enjoying because the day I've been waiting for is finally here!
Last night as a Ho!
The Big Day is Finally Here! I've been so busy lately I haven't even had time to blog! All the wedding stress is killing me (and everyone that has to suffer me) but I hear it's worth it in the end.
I guess it's time to stop stressing and starting enjoying because the day I've been waiting for is finally here! Last night as a Ho!
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It's Not Easy Being a Princess, but Hey If the Crown Fits Surprise!!! A Bridal Shower Fit for a Princess So the day of the big surprise finally arrived! Where do I even start? First of all, my mom and my wonderful bridesmaids hosted a wonderful "surprise" bridal shower. I can not thank them enough for making all my dreams come true and more. Even though it wasn't truly a surprise shower (of course, I knew the date and time), I'm actually surprised that the location was kept so secret for so long. Even as my mom was driving me down route 28, I didn't know where we were going. She kept pulling over to text someone and each time she fooled me. An Irish pub? That can't be right... I was way too overdressed for that. The parking lot of my old physical therapy building? No restaurants there! When we finally pulled into the parking lot of Vincenzos, I could not wait to go inside. I can't even describe the excitement I felt as I walked up the stairs and into a room full of people who were all waiting for me! I was so excited to say hello to everyone that I had to be stopped so I could... wait for it... be crowned! Yes... they got me a tiara just like a real princess. Finally, I got a tiara since I’m not allowed to wear one at my wedding! Per my fiancé, I may look like a bridezilla with a tiara on haha. All the Little Details After all the greeting, I was able to walk around and savor all the details. Again... where do I start? The tables were adorned with grey, blue, and white picture frames with Disney quotes about love. Each table had its own centerpiece: an Aladdin-esque genie lamp, my crystal Beauty and the Beast rose, and WALL-E and Eve (Bride and Groom edition). There was a lot of Disney signage, including the Disney couples’ names in a frame. I remember wanting it ever since I saw it on Pinterest, except it was even better with my name and Danny’s name in the middle. The favors were the most adorable little “glass” slippers with blue Cookies and Cream Hershey Kisses! I mean where do you even find that flavor? Again another Pinterest dream come true! To top it all off, I had a delicious princess-themed cake, complete with a Cinderella slipper. It was half vanilla filled with strawberry fruit filling and half chocolate filled with cookies and cream filling. Yum! Presents for the Prince and Princess’s Future Castle After all the delicious food was consumed and a touching speech from the maid of honor, it was time to open gifts. Our family and friends were incredibly generous. In addition to the gifts that were already sent to my house, Danny and I were showered with a number of goodies to fill up every room at our new place. The bridesmaids were very diligent in handing over the gifts and the MOH logged every single one! Yes, I did provide the gift log printed on purple paper attached to my purple clipboard. That would be the OCD that everyone knows I have. But alas, the fun had to end some time. When all the presents were open and last picture was taken, my team loaded up the gifts into the cars and we had to go home. I had a lot of things to track and pack. Thank goodness I have excellent Tetris skills because I was able to fit all the things I got into a few boxes, which are labeled and ready to move. Thank You Royal Subjects
In all seriousness, I can’t even begin to thank everyone involved from the hostesses, who planned and executed a beautiful shower, to all our family and friends, who came to shower us with love and gifts. If this is a taste of what the wedding will be like, then I cannot wait for the real party to begin! This is Why I Teach And They Lived Happily Ever After This is the title of the book that my students gave to me today. It is a book full of stories and letters that they had written to me with a little help from their teachers (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, Emily Mott). I was so surprised to receive it and even more surprised that they were able to hand in their letters so secretively since I'm always around! As I read through the stories and letters that the children had clearly put a lot of thought into, I alternated between wanting to cry because of all their sweet wishes for my happy marriage, and bursting out laughing because of their creative fairy tales of how I met my future husband. Sometimes I forgot how much a child can love their teacher and know so much about her. It's funny what they pay attention to and remember about you. There were so many great pieces, I wish I could share them all with you. Here's one that really tugged at the heartstrings. 50 Days Until I'm Mrs. Vargas So this happened when I sat down to write my welcome letter to my students and their families next year. It was weird talking about future me... the future Mrs. Vargas who recently got married. It's crazy that when I go back to school in September, I will no longer be Ms. Ho. Now I'll have to practice my new signature!
#adiosho #holavargas #itsabouttime8715 Less Than 2 Months Until the Big Day (58 Days to Be Precise) Invitations Are Finally Going Out
Although I've known I was going to get married for over a year now, sending out the invitations means it's official. After a week of designing, printing, cutting, gluing, and folding (thanks to my bridesmaids for "slaving"), I finally stuffed and addressed all the invitations. Yes, I am one week behind schedule because of unforeseen difficulties in the crafting process. Even though I had all my materials organized, I procrastinated on the design aspect, which I underestimated. Who knew it would take so long to design an invitation template from scratch? I was able to send the first wave to the out-of-town guests after hunting down some postcard stamps. I have impeccable timing for delaying important things. My attempt to run to the post office on Monday during my lunch failed when I left with empty-handed after learning that the rate for postcard stamps had just increased. I would not be stopped of course. Teamwork came into play when Danny ran to the post office during his lunch the very next day. He was much more successful and secured all the stamps I needed. This must be one of the many reasons why I'm marrying him. After work, we sat in the parking lot of the Joyce Kilmer post office to stamp and seal the first wave of invitations. I was surprised when the staff was so accommodating. I was nervous about asking if they could hand cancel my invitations so they wouldn't get ruined. The woman gladly did this for me and assured me that my invitations would not get ruined even if they were put through a machine. Then again, I only had 13 invitations for my out-of-town guests. I wonder if they'll be as accommodating when I return with 80+ invitations for the second wave. I had to take pictures of both waves for proof that all of our hard work came to fruition (and yes that is my wedding guest list/invitation tracker Excel spreadsheet in the background). Hopefully, the post office does not fail me! Please don't lose my invitations! Yes, It's Really Been a Whole Year! On this day, 365 days ago, I received the surprise of my life on a rainy night in Hoboken. Now there are only 76 days to go before we finally tie the knot and I can't wait!
Read the Story of How We Got Engaged Here Where Does the Time Go?! First Wedding Fiasco and Bridezilla Moment 03/24/2015 If you want to go to your wedding naked, shop at Jay West. Long story short, the girls and I went to Jay West to order the bridesmaids dresses back in November and now I found out the dresses were never ordered. It was definitely the store's mistake for holding the order since they "thought Natalee and Bella were bridesmaids." After several frustrating phone calls with the manager and then finally the store owner, I finally managed to get a rush order on the dresses and a semi decent apology. Still not happy that they won't do anything else for messing up my order. Now the dresses won't be here until June and I am not happy about that. I obviously planned to have them way earlier than that! The girls have been good sports about it. Complaining and being angry with me about how Jay West has treated us. Consoling me that everything will work out. I know everything will be fine. I just didn't expect a bump in the road yet, especially during the already stressful week of PARRC and parent teacher conferences. So this was my one bridezilla moment, which I am assured by all that I'm totally justified in having. Fantastic Fuchsia Flower Samples 03/29/2015 Danny, my mom, and I took a trip to our florist, Bloom Floral and Events, to see the flower samples and I loved all of them. I think I did pretty good job of choosing three different designs that are still coordinated. I can't reveal what the flowers look like but I can describe the design as simple, yet modern and elegant. There will be a lot of fuchsia orchids, which are my favorite flowers! I'm so glad we chose Bobby. He aims to please and he actually said that he likes that I'm a picky bride and that I pay attention to detail. It helps him know what I like so he can make my day look beautiful. I don't think many people would say they like a picky bride! Seeing the flowers was definitely a win for me. I'd been feeling stressed because of the bridesmaids dress issue.
Vera Wang for the Boys! 04/18/2015 Danny, Alex, and I picked out all the formalwear for the groomsmen! They'll be wearing the Vera Wang Black tux and I can't wait to see how fancy they look! Who can resist a handsome man in a suit? Last Birthday as a Single Lady 04/20/2015 Thank you to all my family and friends for making what I thought was going to be an ordinary 28th birthday special! It was full of surprises. This time next year, I will no longer be a Miss Ho, but a Mrs. Vargas! Next Steps
Good News to Wipe Away Those Winter Blues Winter Will Be a Distant Memory in 5 Months So with administering the PARCC test for the first time ever this week and the parent-teacher conferences AND all of the winter weather this week, you can only imagine what a stressful week it's been. Then yesterday afternoon, I received a text from the future mom-in-law saying that she booked our flights to Mexico. That's right, Danny and I are going to Cancun for our honeymoon!
Thank You for Sending Us to Cancun... Twice!
So a big thank you to my future mother-in-law for bringing us to Cancun the first time and now, sending us back! Celebrating a Day of Love with the People I Love, Doing Things I Love! Now I Love My Dress! What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than a girls' day out? My mom, bridesmaids, and I kicked off Valentine's Day with a trip to Jahee Bridal for my first dress fitting. My dress came into the salon back in January but I had to push my fitting appointment to February because it had snowed the morning of my original appointment and my shoes didn't arrive on time. This time I was ready! I had my new 5-inch sparkly heels and pavé earrings, as well as my something borrowed - an exquisite journey diamond necklace from my mom. I was so excited to try on my actual dress, not the gigantic sample dress I tried on last August. My seamstress Maria helped me into my dress and heels and I had time to admire the details while she pinned up all the extra fabric (and there was a lot of extra fabric for a petite little bride like me). I loved the way the lighting gave the dress a subtle sparkle when I moved. The dress being in my size made all the difference because I loved my dress now. Everyone's reaction when I stepped out of the room made me feel like a star. Of course, everyone loved the dress on me! To complete the look, I put on my veil, earrings, and necklace. I felt like a bride standing in front of that floor-length mirror. Then, Maria spread out the train so we could take in all the detail; it was gorgeous! Just when I thought I couldn't love my dress more, Maria bustled my dress and it was amazing the way she transformed the back of my dress. It was like I had two dresses for the price of one! I loved how the detail on the train flowed seamlessly with the design from the bodice.... And to think I never even wanted a dress with a train!
Fifty Shades Fun After the dress fitting and brunch at Patisserie Florentine, we continued our girls' day by watching Fifty Shades of Grey. Obviously the book was better but I just had to see how cheesy the movie would be for myself. I was actually surprised to see the number of males in theater that were most likely forced to go by their female counterparts. All of our boys lucked out and we did not drag any of them to the theater ruin the movie for us. The Florist Fiasco is Finally Over A few weeks earlier, I finalized my florist, who was recommended by a co-worker (thanks Ashley and Ashley's dad!). For those of you who lived through the florist selection hell with me, you were just as relieved as I was when I finally chose Bloom Floral and Events to be my official florist. I think it was the first time I was truly a Bridezilla because my indecisiveness and attention to detail would not allow me to make a choice; each florist had something different to offer that the others did not, which did not make the decision any easier. In the end, I had to remember that it's not about the little details because everything will turn out fine. I just have to remember the big picture... that I'm getting married to the love of my life and that's all that matters! Thank you to all of those who put up with me during my time of need. Apartment Hunting Begins Now that most of the big details have been taken care of, I've had the time to hunt for apartments. After compiling all of our research, Danny and I are venturing out this weekend to visit potential apartments because in 5 months, we are moving out and living in the real world! Yikes! I wonder if it will be as fun as Welcome 2015! Only 7 months to go! Even though I haven't had time to update, I have been getting a lot of things on the big checklist done! Here's what I've been up to: October To-Do List
November To-Do List
Photo Update
P.S. All the engagement photos are up on our website! Thank you to our photographer Hanel Choi. See the Photos page for the full gallery! |
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July 2015
The OCD Bride...
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