James Beard Award Semi-Finalists!

So excited to see the latest trim for this year's James Beard Award nominations! Grub Street has the list. There are some definite surprises - but in a good way. Congratulations to Heart's Delight chefs Gabrielle Hamilton, Bryan Voltaggio, Josiah Citrin, David Myers, Kendal Duque for their nominations and making this round of cuts!

Goin' to the Chapel . . .

This weekend Mike took his LSAT (yaaay!!!) and then we drove down to Charlottesville to meet the priest of the church where we will be marrying (and see the church for the first time ever!!) and also meet with the florist (more on that in a coming post). The drive down was marvelous. It was warm and sunny and we were giddy from Mike's recent liberation. We (almost) got lost because of the GPS when we were almost to the church. Rural Virginia is no place for GPS, even if you're 20 miles from Charlottesville. However, we arrived with 7 minutes to spare before mass. I'd seen pictures of the inside from a former bride on The Knot but I was so excited to see it firsthand. I don't think I've ever been that excited while sitting in church. I was just taking everything in. Mike could attest. I was giddy. However, when I went up to communion, I had the hotel's phone number on my hand and was so embarrassed when I held my hand up to receive the host - from the priest!

Anyways, the church where our future wedding will be is so cute, even in the doldrums of February and the priest was very nice. I wanted to take more pictures, but Mike wouldn't let me. So I'll leave this with you. It's a bit more modern, and not what you would typicall think of as a "quaint wedding chapel" but it's lovely on the inside and actually feels like a holy place, which was important to me. I didn't want to get married in a place that I didn't feel "Catholic."

Bridesmaids Dresses: Part 4 of 5 (hopefully)

As promised, here is the report from our visit to Hitched in Georgetown last week. (Don't forget about their Bridesmaids Dress Buying Party this Thursday!) Below are the stand-outs:
Callie by Thread: Elijah by Thread (not sure why it's a guy's name):

And Kiki by Thread. We also loved these dresses by Simple Silhouettes:

A-Line: def sans sash, but that's just me. I'm trying to go for the "not bridesmaid" look.

Empire: This was much cuter and very flattering on my friend.

There was also a strapped cocktail option that my friends both liked, but it's not online. These are more traditional and in the $250-$275 range.

Comparisons: Kat and Mallory* and loved the quality and feel of the Threads dresses, but they're significantly more expensive -$350 to $375. They also thought they were the most flattering, but they're not as fun and the colors are okay (bright-ish pink but with an orange "tinge" in the silk shantung) for what I'm looking for. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Melissa Sweets from my previous post, some Amsale dresses, and the Threads dresses, based on color, dress type, and price. The Threads dresses come in an awesome color they call "Popsickle." It's kinda bright, but lots of fun, however, not sure if all my girls will be 100% pleased about it, I'm guessing maybe 85%.

With so many choices, it's rather difficult to pick just a few! I had decided to give my girls options between at least 2 dresses, but it'll probably be around 3 as some have requested a dress that didn't require a strapless bra - oh for the "blessed" among us. *le sigh.*

Honeymoon Giveaway in Greece

Attention all! J.Crew is giving away a free honeymoon in Greece on their website!

According to the website, it's a "trip for two to Santorini, Greece, 50night stay at the luxurious Tsitouras Collection Hotel and beach-ready J.Crew wardrobe for two*."

To enter, click here.

Bridesmaids Dresses: Part 3 (of 4 or 5)

After my horrific experience at Jingles in Richmond, my friends and I visited Bella Rosa. It was WONDERFUL. They had so many dresses, the store was a great size, we didn't need an appointment but easily got a dressing room, and the sales associate was so attentive and professional - she even repeatedly apologized for not being able to be with us more because they were so busy - and they were busy! My friend Bekah tried on maybe 12 dresses while Brittany and I rated them. It was so different from our first experience - we were there for over an hour! Because this was our first serious research trip, we couldn't place an order, but she was happy to give us swatches of the top 6 dresses we liked. (More on that later.)

Late last week, two wonderful friends went with me to a third store to look at bridesmaids dresses. This was at Priscilla of Boston in Tyson's Corner (after stopping at Tiffany's next door). I had a few in mind from doing more research online with Bekah and from the dresses we liked at Bella Rosa. And now, for the dresses:

Vineyard Style 1414

Amsale Style G456C in Cranberry (in love with the color)

Melissa Sweet STYLE MS307

Melissa Sweet STYLE MS219

Melissa Sweet STYLE MS120

Some runners up, but unfortunately, they don't come in colors that would go with our wedding:

http://watters.com/product.php?coll=wtoo&showid=751
Waters, too STYLE 306

http://watters.com/product.php?style=4331
Waters & Waters STYLE 4331

http://watters.com/product.php?showid=973&coll=watters&style=4335
Waters & Waters STYLE 4335

**Photos are courtesy of Priscilla of Boston and Amsale.

All these dresses came in GREAT colors (Cranberry / Raspberry). However, they all seem a bit expensive (in the mid to high $200's). But they're quite cute. My girls loved the last 3 Melissa Sweets, and I do, too. However, my friends tonight said they felt like the Melissa Sweets weren't as good quality as the dresses we tried on tonite (Simple Silhouettes and Threads). However, Simple Silhouettes and Threads are up to $200 more!! * le sigh *

Soon, I'll post about my visit to Hitched in D.C.

Rebuffed: Bridesmaids Dresses Part 2

Two weekends ago I visited Richmond to see some friends and go bridesmaids dress shopping. We visited 2 different stores and had 2 very different experiences. The first was Jingles. I had called them 3 days prior to our visit to see if we needed an appointment to look at dresses (they were fully booked for appointments because of a trunk show). My friend had tried to prepare us as she had researched them prior to our visit and reported that she'd read comments online that the shop can be a little snobby, even though they have some nice dresses.

The woman who answered told me no, only if I wanted my girls to be measured for their dresses. When we arrived, the first woman who greeted us asked if we had an appointment. I told them about my phone conversation. This first woman was very nice and even apologetic that their dressing rooms were all in use, but she may be able to squeeze us in after a group of girls was finished. I thanked her and we began our browsing. A second woman asked us if we had an appointment, ready to record my answer on her trusy clipboard. I told her the same and she was very rude and said, "Well, we you need an appointment. We're very busy today, with the trunk show and all." I told her we understood and we would be okay just browsing if if need be. A THIRD woman asked us the same question (mind you, the shop is very small and the section with the bridesmaids dresses is right in front of the front desk, so even if you wanted to have a quiet conversation with a potential client, you would still only be standing a maximum of 10 feet away from anyone else in the store! Well, the first one was able to get us into a dressing room 15 minutes before her 2:30 appointment. Between the 3 of us, we were able to try on 7 different dresses in less than 10 minutes. On our way out, we said thank you and let them know that the dressing room was available. We will not be returning.

Paying tribute

Last fall I asked my maternal grandmother, my last living grandparent, to send me something that I could keep with me on my wedding day in case she wasn't able to travel from the Philippines. I wanted her to know that she was very special and her presence at my wedding was very important to me. Within a few weeks, I had received a card signed by her (although I could tell it was difficult for her to manage) and a few keepsakes of hers: 1) a rosary because Catholicism is very important to her, 2) a handerkerchief because she's always warm and 3) a fan because she has a strong Spanish heritage (and she's always warm). She always had either a fan or a handkerchief with her. I was very touched when she sent me all three, along with her card.

Unfortunately, Lola Rose (Lola = "grandmother" in Tagalog) passed away early last Wednesday morning. My family, including my sister in London, flew to California to say our last goodbyes to her before they sent her to the Philippines. Her death was, and probably will be for some time, especially difficult for my mother, sister, and me because we were closest with her and we all looked up to her. She was the model wife and mother to us, ever loving, selfless, and kind. She was intelligent, witty, and funny and always knew the right thing to say when you came to her with your problems. Lola once told Ingrid when Ingrid said she looked lovely that day, "Dear, beauty is 99% youth."

Now I struggle with the best way to remember her at our wedding. I know she'll be with us in spirit, but I still want to recognize her . However, I don't want to seem inconsiderate or rude if I don't recognize my other 3 grandparents especially. I thought about having their wedding pictures displayed somewhere. I also thought about having a rose in the front row in memory of her, but will I need 6 roses (both pairs of my grandparents and one set of Signor Keswick's)? That may seem excessive and lose its meaning. I definitely think simpler is better, but finding something appropriate and fitting for such a great woman is a tall order.