This morning, I went through all my Partylite possessions and decided to part with them.I go through different phases in my life. Two years ago, I went through the knitting and crocheting phase, and I had enrolled in a few different knitting and crocheting class with Yarn Forward. I spent hours and hours going through knitting magazines and wandering at Yarn stores. During this phase, I did manage to crochet a few hats, knit a few scarfs, crochet a dog (which looks a bit like a tripod-dog), start on a sweater coat (but never get around to finish it.)About a year and a half ago, I went through a phase of partylite. I was obsessed with partylite candles. I hosted two parties, got a lot of "free" stuff, bought tons of candles (tealights, votives, pillars, 3 wick), you name it, I have it! By the end of last summer, I had enough candles to light up the entire street if ever the power went out! Joe knows me very well, and he knows that I go through different phases, and these phases come and go. My partylite-phase lasted for about 10 months and it eventually vanished. However, I was left with tons of partylite candles and holders, mocking at me everyday, about how silly and irrational I was for the last 10 months.This morning, when I woke up... out of the blue, I knew it is time to say goodbye to them. I got out of bed, jumped into the shower, went to the kitchen, made myself a big pot of coffee, and started taking pics of each one of my "then-precious" parytlite items, then one by one, I patiently posted them onto www.usedottawa.com.While I was posting the items, I began to question myself if I am going through a new phrase. Even I could not answer this question. I have a feeling that I sort of understand the meaning of "less is more" and the idea of "minimalism". I looked around myself and began to realize Joe and I had accumulated a lot of items (a.k.a junk) through time, and perhaps it is time to clean house. I had my very first partylite business transaction tonight... the lady came and walked out with three Sunesta hurricane vases (11". 13" and 15") which used to sit on the sofa table. Was I sad? Amazingly, I was not! I was actually surprised that there are people out there who would pay that much for something I used to value a lot!Do all people go through material-phases in their lives, or is it just me? I wonder...
I can't believe it has been a month and a day since our wedding day (May 17,2008). The last month passed by so fast. Our friends and families keep asking us how the married life is? Joe and I moved into our new home last June and had been living together since. So, our daily life has not really changed much, however, I did notice some changes though. Instead spending every night working on the wedding stuff, we now have time to enjoy each other's company. When we were planning our wedding, having a night out or going to the movie was a luxury to us, as we simply could not afford the time to do so. Now that the wedding is over, we are back to the real life, and things are finally, back to normal. What a relief! :-)
For the last few days... I was busy writing thank you cards. I have been procrastinating in writing the cards, but I guess, the one-month mark has come and gone, and it is really time to write the thank you cards. While I was working on what to say on the cards... I suddenly realized that I did not really give a stunning speech at the wedding... with a mix of too much champagne and an empty stomach, it was just hard to give a speech. That makes me wonder what my speech would have been if I did not have three glasses of champagne before the speech:
There are a few people I would like to thank... without them this wedding would not be a fairy tale.
My parents:
My dad and my mom have put in a lot of work in helping Joe and myself to plan this wedding. They live in Vancouver, though the planning was done mainly via e-mail and telephone, the geographical distance did not hinder the progress of the planning at all. My mom is a very talented, loving and caring mother in this world. She made the pew bow decorations and she did all the flower arrangements at the receptions. My mom is a Martha-Stewart in my heart. Throughout the 15-month wedding planning, she had given me a lot of advice, from finding the "killer" wedding dress, searching for the perfect reception place, looking for the wedding favors, finding lots of tulle and ribbons to wiping my tears at the church. She is a truly amazing woman whom I am proud that she is my mom.
My dad gave an awesome speech at the reception. Though it was a short speech, it was a very direct speech. He thanked one and only one person in his speech. My dad said that if it was not this person, he would not have the chance to walk me down the aisle at the church, he would not have been able to attend a magic-filled wedding reception. This person, of course, is my mom! By the time my dad finished his speech, my eyes were filled with tears (yup... there went my $100 bridal make up!) It was the world's most amazing speech!
My sister, Loretta:
She flew all the way from Hong Kong (17 hours flying time)... do I need to say more? I have always been very close to my sister. She moved to HK a few years ago to pursue her career in Banking then Global Recruiting in Banks. Though we live in different ends of the world, we have never drifted apart. The pearl necklace I wore on my wedding day, is a gift from her. It is a stunning pearl necklace! I almost fainted when I saw the price tag!
My bridesmaid, Rose:
When I was the assistant buyer in Service Deli Department at Costco Wholesale, Rose was my service deli supervisor in W.257 Sudbury. Two people who have never met, only talked on the phone a few times a month about work, suddenly became friends. We met up twice in the last 7 years but we are close friends. I went to Hamilton to visit her twice, the first time she took me to chinatown in Toronto for dim sum (an Italian taking a chinese to dim sum...), the second time, she took me to Niagara-on-the-Lake for wine tasting. Rose is a very lovable person and has a great sense of humor. I trust her and she knows all my "dark" secrets and she is able to turn a stressful situation into a hilarious one.... what is not to love her?
My in-laws:
Carl and Sandy: In a nutshell, they are amzing people! My mother in law, Sandy and I started e-mailing each other 4 months prior to the wedding. She is a very nice person and I really enjoy chatting with her via e-mail. I find that there is something special in her that she is able to send warmth and hugs through the e-mails. On the wedding day, after the ceremony, we all went to Dow's Lake for family photos. It was a cloudy day, just when I was crossing my fingers that we could get all the pictures done before the rain came, I felt the very first drop of rain on my arm. My wedding gown has a super long train and it makes walking in a pair of three inch high heels next to impossible. My mother in law silently picked up my train and place it onto the hook that was sew onto the back of the gown. Rain started to come down noticeably when we were done with the pictures, the rain, compounded with wind, simply sent shivers to my bone. My mother in law, once again, came to rescue. She had Carl, my father in law, took off his jacket and she gently put it around me, to keep me warm. Others might think that it was a small gesture, but to me, it means a lot and at that time, I knew I had become part of the Vautour's family.
A few days prior to the wedding. My in laws came to our house for BBQ. Both sets of parents had never met, so Joe and I thought it would be nice if they could meet prior to the wedding. In the chinese culture, both sets of paretns meet prior to the wedding to discuss about wedding plans, gifts etc. Due to our cultural differences, it is extremely difficult to explain to Joe about all these traditions and rituals in great details. My awesome hubby went onto the internet and started researching on some of these wedding cultures and he had asked his dad and Sandy to help. So, when they came for BBQ, they presented my mom (my dad did not arrive till the day after... so he missed a wonderful meal prepared by Rose) a huge gift basket which consists of some of the gifts listed under the chinese wedding traditions. My mom was amazed and I was simply shocked. I did not expect my in laws would go through the trouble to find all those items and then place them in a basket with tons of ribbons and stuff. The two mothers started to talk, my mom speaks little English and I acted as the translator. My mom was happy and impressed, and I was happy because my mom was happy! One thing I must mention is the letter my in laws wrote to my parents.... I read it so that I could translate for my mom... OMG! It was a very beautiful letter and I had tears in my eyes when I was reading it... Getting acceptance from my in laws was the one thing that I really worried about before the wedding, and after reading the letter... my worry was gone instantly. They had welcomed me into the Vautour's family with open arms... I simply could not ask for more!
Well... this is a much better speech than the one I gave at the wedding reception....
I love cooking... but I do not follow any recipe at all. I make my own recipe as I cook... but I do not take notes. So it is virtually impossible for me to reproduce the same dish at all. And this really drives Joe insane. I love to marinate... one of the special secrets in Chinese cooking. I love to try out new marinates... sometimes it turns out to be a huge success, there are also times that Joe and I are so close to write off the entire meal and order in for the night.
Sacastically enough though, I have quite an impressive cook books collection. Looney Spoons, Jamie Oliver, Reader's Digest, Cook like a Chef, Rachel Ray's 30 minutes' meals... you name it, and I am sure I can fish that out in my collection. Why do I buy cook books? No special reason at all... it is just like other women buying shoes, whether they need them or not. Or put it in another way... You need a pair of shoes to go with each outfit you have in the closet. "What happens if I want to wear this outfit, but have no shoes to go with... this is THE pair of shoes that I need to have..." The same theory when I wander down the cookbook section at Chapters.
I came across a rib sauce recipe on Ricardo and Friends a few months ago. I have been meaning to try it, but with the wedding and stuff... this recipe was taped on the fridge door for over three months. This past weekend, I finally tried it out once and for all...
Sauce:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup tomato paste
4 tsp dijion mustard
4 tsp Worchestershire Sauce2 tsp ginger powder (I used fresh grind ginger)1 tsp cayenne powder1 cup chili sauce (I used Franks's Hot Sauce)2 cups beer (I wanted to use Stella, but we only had Molson Canadian...)6 garlic gloves (I've started my herb garden a month before the wedding and I grow my own garlic now!)mix everyone in a saucepan... bring to boil and reduce for 7 minutes. Let the sauce cool to room temperature and then rub sauce on meat (ribs, chicken wings...etc) I used drumsticks. Marinated for 8 hours (yes... 8 hrs not 2 hrs... that's the magic of marinate)bake in 375c convection oven for 45 mins (covered with tin foil), then another 30mins uncovered.We had drumsticks marinated in this sauce for dinner on Sunday.... along with a bottle of our wedding wine. Joe and I LOVE this recipe.... I have to admit that following recipes once in a while is actually a good thing!Enjoy! Happy Cooking!
I have been meaning to start writing my blog as soon as the wedding was over. BUT... with the numerous thank you cards to write, 600+ pictures to be loaded on photobucket.com, tons of wedding presents to open, quite a few items to be posted on usedottawa.com for sale... it is hard to find time to do it.For those of you who are interested to take a look at the pics on the wedding day. Here is the link:http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff99/louisaandjoewedding/
Pre-wedding pics, door game challenges pics, tea ceremony pics, church cermony pics, pics at Dow's Lake, pics at Chateau Laurier have been uploaded. The wedding reception pics are still missing. Our photographers took over 600 pics for us, and I want to arrange all the pictures in a way that they follow the sequence of events. Call me anal... but that's the way I like things to be done.
Our family members arrived in a flock and also left in a flock. Joe's family arrived the thursday prior to the wedding, my dad and my lovely sister also arrived on thursday. Joe's family left the day after the wedding. I was fortunate that my family stayed till Tuesday after the wedding, at least Joe and I were able to spend some time with them before my parents flew back home (Vancouver) and my sister flew back home (Hong Kong).
Joe and I went to Niagara on the Lake for our honeymoon. It is not our official honeymoon... we are planning on a cruise vacation next May (10 days at the Carribean!) We spent a few days at the winery region to unwind and relax. We went to the Falls, rode on the Maid of the Mist and managed to ourselves soaking wet (seriously from head to toe). We went to Cliffton Hill (too tacky and cheesy for us... and we did have a nice lunch at the Rainforest Cafe). We went to the Butterfly Conservatory. Joe loves it and for me... a terrifying experience. I hate butterfly... I do not mind looking at them through a glass window. But going into a observation room and having the butterflies flying in front of the face was a horrifying experience to me! Before we went to the conservatory, I kept Joe that I did not want to go in... but he thought I was joking. As soon as I walked into the observation room, it did not take Joe long enough to realize that I was not joking. I was hyperventilating and seriously, had I stayed there a few minutes longer, I would have passed out. I must say that was the worst part of the trip. Joe did learn a good lesson that he is not to take my phobia(s) lightly.
