Thursday, October 29, 2009

honeymoon!!!

I can't really blog about the wedding if I don't blog about the honeymoon, right? That's what I thought...

The boy and I waited a few days after the wedding to say goodbye to all of our family who flew in for the wedding before we took off for our trip. We knew we couldn't get a direct flight, so we decided to take the red eye to Charlotte thinking that we would sleep on the plane. Of course, the boy and everyone else on the plane fell asleep but me. There was quite a bit of turbulence and since I'm scared of flying, I only managed to get 20 minutes of sleep. Needless to say, I was crabby when we landed. However, I was pumped for breakfast (since I rarely wake up early enough to have it at home) and I decided that after months of dieting, I was going to treat myself to a sausage and cheese biscuit from McDonalds (my breakfast choice of youth - I always had them before my AYSO soccer games on Saturday mornings). Giddy and excited, we walked off the plane and walk around...and discover that there's no McDonalds. The carb gods were trying to tell me to stay strong. Boo. Since we make a point of trying the random chains when we go out of town, Matt decided to try Bojangles (chicken and biscuits - he was in heaven) while I settled for a bagel (take that carb gods!) We managed to fall asleep at our gate and before we knew it, it was time to board our flight to...JAMAICA!!!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was for a trip that involved nothing but reading magazines and books while drinking pina coladas by the pool/beach. After getting off the plane, we were greeting by resort employees who promptly handed us 2 Red Stripes - fabulous. The drive to the resort took about 2 hours in which the driver played Bob Marley the entire time. We thought this was specifically for us since we're tourists. However, we heard Bob Marley every day, everywhere we went. I'm not gonna lie, after 10 days I was over it.

After checking it, we walked up to this room, opened the balcony door and were greeted with this:
No joke, I started jumping up and down cheering "yay, yay, yay!!!" when I saw it. I loved being one of the rooms surrounding the pool - it made me feel very "Melrose Place" except without all the drama and scandal.

The resort had a crazy amount of activities and water sports, though we spent most of our time hanging out on the beach being couple-y. Regardless, here are some pics/stories of what we saw/did:

1) A lot of our trip was spent doing this:


or this:


Amazing.

2) Our resort was "Couples Tower Isle". While it looked pretty from afar, we actually didn't go to the island because it's an "all nude" part of the resort. I've done the topless thing, but I don't think I could go all out. We did get a closeup peek of the island during one of our boat rides...and the people on the island decided to moon us. Nice.

3) We took several boat rides during our trip - once for a catamaran cruise (where I was d.r.u.n.k.) and to go snorkeling/scuba diving. I could not get over how clear and blue the water was and it was my fist time swimming with fish - an interesting experience for a girl who often says "I don't do nature", but it was fun. I didn't scuba with Matt since I wasn't comfortable with breathing underwater, but I did snorkel above him so I got to watch everything he did. Not fun - When we got back on the boat, I started to feel sick and my muscles tensed up and I couldn't move them. Turns out I was showing symptoms of the bends - yes, leave it to the girl who didn't actually scuba to get sick. Needless to say, I spent the rest of that day in bed watching "The Tyra Show", "Wendy Williams", "Extra", and other bad talk shows.

Me and the boy on the Catamaran


Where they took us to snorkel/scuba


I love that this fish was camera ready


4) I also ate...a lot. This is the benefit/drawback of all-inclusive resorts. In addition to the buffet, they had 2 fancy restaurants as well as 2 more casual restaurants, juice/veggie bar, and a poolside grill. Being the dork that I am, I definitely took pictures of food, especially since some of the meals were the most beautifully plated meals I've ever seen, but I won't bore you guys with those.

5) Ever since I can remember, whenever I've been on the beach, I've written "Bianca <3 *insert current crush*". So of course, I did that in Jamaica.


Time flew by way too fast and before I knew it, we were at the Montego Bay airport which I have to say was awesome because they had the Official Jamaican Bobsled Team store complete with the actual bobsled they used. The best part is that they were playing "Cool Runnings" on loop. I used to LOVE that movie!

Looking through these pics makes me want to be back on the beach...think I can convince the boy to go somewhere tropical for Christmas?

Monday, October 26, 2009

My Wedding!

The boy and I have been back from the honeymoon for 2 weeks now and I realized that today I have been married for 1 month...which means I should finally blog about it. And while I wanted to wait until I had the digital files for my wedding pics to post pics, some of you have asked to see some so I'm going to post some that my friends took.

I'm proud to say that I remained pretty calm throughout the wedding planning process. I guess after going to law school and studying/taking the bar exam, nothing can be more stressful. Plus it helped that Tiffany, aka, the BEST maid of honor ever, flew out a few days early to help with last minute details. Since we had a long engagement, I was able to space out details pretty well and fortunately we only had 1 unexpected thing go wrong (candle holder drama) so I didn't have to deal with too much before the big day. The rehearsal (which went smoothly after everyone finally got there due to ridiculous SF traffic) was fast and the dinner was lovely. We all ate too much and happy. Here's Tiff and I right before dessert. I was in LOVE with my vintage 1950's dress that I got at Shangri-La Vintage in Chicago. I love it there!
After the rehearsal Tiff and I went back to my house where we painted our nails and I watched Tivoed talk shows until I finally fell asleep. I woke up at 6 a.m. the next day and watched an episode of "Clean House" before taking my shower - typical Bianca.

My bridesmaids and I all went out to breakfast before heading to the venue where we were all getting our hair and makeup done. We were greeted with champagne and juice which we drank while getting pampered for 4 hours. Lovely. Time flew by super fast and before I knew it I had to put my dress on and go outside for pics. When we walked outside, we were shocked. It was 90 degrees outside which is hot for the Bay Area and even worse considering it was late September. My dress fit perfectly, but that also meant there was little breathing room and I was pretty sure I was going to faint. Fortunately that didn't happen. Here are some pics of me and my bridesmaids:

The girls helping me with my dress


Group portrait for the photographer


The photos didn't take too long and after relaxing for 20 minutes and having a group dance party to "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus (don't judge us) it was time to walk down the aisle. The ceremony was quick (15 minutes or so) but it was beautiful and everything I wanted it to be:

Walking down the aisle to a string version of "Pictures of You" by the Cure


Saying our vows


Yay, we're married! Walking back to "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes




The reception was fabulous. My colors were pink and champagne and while it was stressful to pick out cake/linens/flowers without seeing what they would all look like together, I loved it:

Entrance


Pretty Friends!


Cake!




Along with dinner and dancing, my favorite part of my reception was that we had a photobooth! It was the 1 thing that I always wanted at my wedding and I'm thrilled that we had one. Guests not only took pictures, but the machine printed doubles which they placed on a page that they decorated and wrote notes on and was then placed in a book which we used as our guest book. Photobooth + open bar = ridiculousness. I love my friends. Here are some of my favorites:

The Girls


College Roomies!


Groomsmen


Law School Girls!



Me and the Boy


At the end of the night we waited for everyone to leave and then we took off for the Four Seasons where we had the coolest hotel room I've ever been in which included a TV in the bathroom. Love it. I'm so, so happy with how the entire day went, but more importantly I'm unbelievably excited that I'm this boy's wife. I'm a lucky, lucky girl.