bicep curls, sharp things, and ice cream!

Bicep curls!

Lateral raises!

The Plank  (Source)

My foot still hurts so I haven't been able to shred (ahhhhh >_<) but I hope to at least work in these (15-minute) arm exercises I found online!  I also found some leg exercises but I haven't looked at them thoroughly yet.  The A-line dress can help hide anything else I can't fix in time (and Tim will just have to love me inspite of them!) but the arms will be flailing gracefully gesturing about.

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I bought this today!  To help with making our table numbers!  It was on sale for $6 at Beverly's!  A pretty sure deal that was originally $9.99 that includes a self-healing cutting mat, an aluminum art knife, and 3 replacement blades!  Sure beats my dull Swiss Army knife!  What am I doing for table numbers?  You'll just have to wait and see!

Already needing to catch up on thank you cards.  Isn't that horrible?  And I'll need mooooore for the future.  What to do, what to do...

                                      

What kind of flavor of ice cream is your favorite?  My favorite "bai-ren/bak-yun" one is probably mint chocolate chip, but OH!  HOW I LOVE...

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Polly Ann's Green Tea Ice Cream.  [!!!]  Not too much trouble not partaking in whatever sweet Dryer's goodness is in the fridge.   But bust out that milky-white bucket of green tea, and I'm done!

[Isn't this an awesome post about arm exercises and ice cream?!  You're probably going, "Umm... Alvina, if you actually read your post, you might be able to fix the first thing by not eating the last thing!"]
                                                                                 

thinking outside of the box

Progress! Today was also a beautifully sunny day and I managed to get my butt outside for a very short run of 1.2 miles (on very hilly streets though). Then I did the Moraga mosaic stairs TWICE... which is 163 steps x 2! Which my knees are paying for now. :( I guess I was still remotely sore from the other fantastic run at Kezar earlier this week, and today's hilly trot did not help at all.

I've also discovered the hill right outside my house has 5-stars based on 105 reviews on Yelp! I should utilize the hill more often. And definitely put it on the list to take people to -- out of towners or not! It provides quite a spectacular view.

I also finally got pics from our ghetto-engagement-shoot #2 in December when Tim was here for Christmas. :] The pics are nice, but I am not fond of how I look in many of them, so I may or may not share them. :oP Maybe next week I'll put out a few.


And... here's a small sample of pics from a Water Balloon Engagement session on RuffledBlog:

The lighting on the middle picture, where the exploded water balloon is ridiculously bright is awesome.  (Source)

I'm not usually drawn to like... "themed" shoots, but I kinda liked this one. Like I could admire the colorful -round-balloons trend, but I don't think I'd want to do that. And this I feel falls slightly into the balloon camp, but like... different and slightly out of the box (which is the part I like).

Then there was the ultra cool, ultra outside of the box underwater engagement shoot!

Now that is awesome, and what thinking outside of the box means! They got clothes from a Salvation Army (or something like it) and jumped right into the pool they grew up swimming in!  (Source)

It'd be cool if we or Herman could come up with a cool idea to roll with for the pro shoot (Yeeehaw, we're getting a pro shoot!) :]  We had discussed doing the shoot at Golden Gate Park since it's so versatile in terms of textures, colors, and variety, but something different would be cool yeah?  Maybe not internet viral out of the box, but something new!  Though when I sent him a link of the underwater shoot, all he said was, "i won't stop you if you wanted a picture jumping into the lake in GG Park :)"  Not what I had in mind.  :(

Got any cool engagement session ideas?  Think really hard.
                                     

for the run!

0.9 mile walk from home to the post office
0.7 mile walk from post office to Kezar Stadium
1.5 (?) mile run around Kezar

(Google Maps)

I got there only to discover that there was some middle school track meet going on on the track (which is the yellow line).  I knew they were middle schoolers because they were tiny, loud, and obnoxious.  :oP

So I ended up running four laps on the outter concrete path, which is outlined in red.  It's a whole lot bigger!  And there were inclines and declines!  And I did four, non-stop laps!  Which might not be a lot for some people, but for the girl who couldn't run for 5 minutes straight in middle school, AND for someone who hasn't run in like... {ahem} a year, this is great!  :]

It was also a lovely, warm warm day. I was kind of worried since I so awesomely inherited the sweat-a-lot gene that I'd get unpleasantly hot and sweaty, but I surprisingly didn't rain sweat, and no wheezing either!  (I used to wheeze a lot when running.)

My knees are hurtin' though.  And I'm preeeetty sure I'll be quite sore tomorrow.  But it was a good run!  (Trot?)  haha.

If four laps around the yellow is a mile, how far is four laps around the red?
          

flawlessly fearless

Bridesmaids.  Dresses.  Ordered.  Whew.  There was an almost maybe I'm settling but I'm ok with it ordeal last week.  I may share if I feel like it eventually.

Invitations.  In the works.  Processing, I think.

My uncle says he owns a video camera.  And I think my other uncle owns a tripod (whether it is video camera stable, I have no clue).  So there will hopefully be some footage I can watch after it all flies by in a blur!

I was watching the "Our Song" music video by Taylor Swift, and that girl... has flawless skin in her videos.  I wonder if she uses airbrush make up.

She glows...!  (Source)

I think I might have a friendor to do hair (yay) but I am still unknown on the make up.  I had contemplated using the people who did Carol and Heidi's hair and make up, but I didn't like the hair girl (her work, not the girl herself).  Cause she just knows how to do curls.  She does curls really well, but... not much else, I think.  But the make up girl was ok even though everyone thought the make up made us look.... Chinesey.  But we photographed decently, so... perhaps it's ok.  A friendor in this departmet would be quite excellent!  But I'm willing to pay for our faces to show up in the pictures.  That's why we're paying our biggest bucks on the photographer, right?

I love how Jillian is there to work out with me even thought it's raining CATS and DOGS and HAMSTERS outside.  Seriously, there's been a lot of rain!  (And scary lightning and thunder.)  I've been more or less keeping up.  If I don't shred a particular day, I hopefully replace it with some other form of exercise.  I think there's only been one day since I've started that it was just a dud day where I didn't do anything particularly physical.  Yesterday, I did Level 1 and Level 2.  It was purty awesome and I was a hot sweaty mess afterwards.  :]  I like working out.  I definitely need to work on eating better and stepping up my workout... and I don't just mean to level 3!

Tell me about something new that's going on in your life.  Or something you're excited about, whether that's just getting off work today, someone you're going to meet up with tomorrow, or a trip you've got planned next week!
     

swords! and exercise!

 

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"The bride traditionally stands on the left, and the groom on the right. This dates back to medieval times when the groom might need to defend his bride in the middle of the ceremony, and wanted to leave his right hand, his sword hand, free. While few grooms even carry a sword anymore, the tradition has lasted." 

~ Weddings.about.com ~

Swords!  Tim and I liked learning about that  :-P  Which is totally not nerdy of us.

And on a completely unrelated note...

                          

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I am not a runner.  Nope.  Not at all.  But.  I had inspirations to do the 5K at the 2010 San Francisco Marathon.  But it is at the end of July and I will most likely... not be here.  I know there are plenty of marathons around the States, but I suppose I should back up my inspirations with some training and consistent running before joining marathons of any calibur.  It would be really, really awesome if Tim and I could do this together, but I'm not sure if he'll have the time with impending research doom looming all the time.

As of yesterday, I completed day 5 of the 30 Day Shred, with three days on level 1 and two days on level 2.  Level 1 just kind of gives me a sheen of sweat (and it made me a little sore from unused muscles) but Level 2 gives me the sweatdown, which I really enjoy.  Today I did a two-mile walk (one mile of that uphill), so I haven't decided if I still want to shred today or take a break since the DVD is pretty repetitive.  I'm thinking of cycling through the levels so it's not the same one day after day.  My goal of having some sort of exercise everyday is coming along.

     

As of lately...

Here's a random successes (and purchases) progress report!

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Yesterday, I randomly picked up this signature frame at Target. I just happened to be walking by the end-of-the-aisle clearance sections and saw this signature frame for $14! I searched online and most are more expensive... so I think (or will just tell myself) I got a great deal. Esp one that doesn't require me to do any work like buying the mat and frame separately. (And it will probably come out costing the same). Having mulled over some other options, I had already predicted we would go this route for the "guestbook" despite some other really cool ideas. So... sweet. Another thing off the list. :]

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Two days ago, I also bought our inter-island tickets! Since we're honeymooning in Kauai for 7 days then jetting over to Honolulu for 3, we have to buy inter-island plane tickets! At ~$65/person (including taxes/fees, and we only need them one way since we're flying back to SF out of Honolulu), it is only our first purchase towards our honeymoon! (Thank you Jason and Daddy!)

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I've also picked up two hurricane vases for centerpieces. I'm beginning to think the ones I picked up from Ikea may be a bit too tiny. BUT. I will probably just use them anyway and make them work. More volume on top somehow maybe. I will probably need to start making mock ups soon, so I can figure out what supplies I need. Oh! So I got them from Ross, of course haha; one was $5 (glass) and the other was slightly bigger at $6 (thick plastic, looks like glass?) When I went to Target I saw the same $6 thick plastic one for $13! Hah!

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My copy of the 30 Day Shred just arrived.  Like an hour ago.  (Looove Amazon Prime)  ;)  Bought it on the recommendation of Beck (not to mention the 4.5 stars by 1,594 reviewers on Amazon was impressive as well).  My brother told me to join a gym, and as I've mentioned before I love the gym actually, but it is definitely a pricey investment.  Worth it if you go all the time, not so much if your work out mood sometimes fluctuates with the weather.  *ahem*  So.  I decided that maybe this would be a good option to explore -- sticking a DVD in and working out at home.  I can do that.  And, it was only $8.99 on Amazon.

Soooo the only big things not done that should be done by now are...
- Bridesmaid dresses (*cringes. Will explain in later post)
- Deciding on the guys' suits
- Figuring out where to print invitations // how to assemble them
- Finding out whether the Condons have decided if they want me to do a hotel room block

Is it June yet? Forget the wedding, I wanna go to Hawaii with my Tiiiiim. :-P I'm sooooo excited.
 

that's a latta fat!

You know what's a really effective diet plan? Finding out how many calories and grams of fat your favorite foods contain! Yay.

So on my short stint to LA, I discovered lattes. Yes, yummy delicious lattes with lots of foamy milk. When I ordered it, I thought it was coffee and lots of foamy milk. My bad. Instead of good 'ole regular coffee, Lisa informed me it's a shot of expresso. Wheeeee! But it was delicious and I was tired and all was good and well.

Today, I found myself at Starbucks again and once again decided to get this delicious latte. Then Gabriel grabbed a copy of the Starbucks beverage nutrition information. Bad move. We (which also included Karen, Charlene, and.... Dennis who was more interested in his lunch, I think) looked through it and I don't think I'll be drinking lattes anymore. Which is probably good for my bridal diet, which so far has the constraint of... try to eat real food. (Away with you, delicious Kimchee bowls! Omgosh... 2020mg of Sodium?! See... finding out nutrition information = diet plan!)

So here are some abbreviated stats for the coffee courtesy of Starbucks' nutritional info:

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Brewed coffee (tall)

Calories 5
Total Fat 0g
Caffeine 260mg

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Caffe Latte (tall)
Calories 150
Total Fat 6g
Caffeine 75mg

I also have to consider the factor that I add sugar to both of those items, plus milk to the brewed coffee.  So yeah... I think I'll go back to my brewed coffee. Easier on the calories and easier on the wallet as well! Though I suppose the caffeine content was kind of surprise, it being a "shot of espresso" and all. I've thought about getting cafe au laits (or caffe misto at Starbucks) but really... that's just a weird middle road cause it's 110 calories, 4g of total fat, and 150 mg of caffeine.  It has also just occured to me that I could get a non-fat latte. Hm.  haha.  I wonder if it won't taste as fatty delicious though.  I guess I could find out next time.

Anyway, I'm not having a cow over 150 calories but every little bit of not drinking 150 calories helps right? I am definitely trying to eat better and (hopefully, hopefully) work out more before the big day. I actually love working out, but sometimes the motivation to get out the door is... difficult (especially when it's too cold outside... or too hot... or just too much trouble). But... there'll be lots of eyes lookin' my way and pictures taken on that day, and I heard I'm suppose to get nekkid (just kidding kids, just kidding. we're just gonna play checkers and watch tv after the wedding) and our honeymoon is in Hawaii. HAWAII! Where one is suppose to wear small waterproof clothing! Yeah, that should be motivation enough. So yeah... the whole now-it's-actually-2010 thing should hopefully knock some determination into me and remind me that time's a ticking!

When are you going to go work out? Can I come? What are your best exercising motivations? What are your favorite extra-sizing, I mean, exericising routines?



PS - Today I also realized that I giggle like a school girl when I talk to Tim on the phone. {sigh}