Happy 2014

Happy New Year! I am only 3 days late but better late than never. 

I have been busy with rotations so hopefully after that I will have time to work on the blog as well as study for my boards. I only have one block left and then am free after Feb 14. Isn't that romantic?

Recently we have been getting our home ready for new years eve. 

We..okay really ME.. didn't want to plan a get together because of the clean up and expenses. BUT I really wanted to end the year with a bang so everyone we invited was really kind and helped chipped in. We made it a pot luck- they bought drinks, food, champagne and even decorations! We are REALLY lucky to have such great friends so THANKS GUYS!!!

We planned it really last minute..like the day before.

So I didn't have time to DIY anything >.< other than my quick 2014 number sign with whatever items I had lying around the home. I promise next year it will sparkle!!! 

2013 has been really good to me. Quickies Updates:
I recently have become an auntie !!! Niece photo below. I am not a big baby person and it totally took the pressure off me but my mother in law is all about babies once she saw this one. 

The baby shower was super cute and there were some nice DIY projects and pretty decorations so hopefully I will chat about that soon.

Hubs and I just recently celebrated our 1 year anniversary. 

YAY we made it! It was sad at first because majority of our newlywed stage was long distance but now since I have FINALLY settled back home again FOREVER I am happy. 

We celebrated in style by going to OYA 

They are very well known for their creative sushi dishes such as the Omakase so that's what we got. Since 1 year anniversaries don't happen everyday we decided to splurge on it. 

They have been featured in:

Food & Wine as one of the world's 10 best new restaurants of the year, 

Zagat's America's Best Restaurants, 

Bon Appetit's Top 10 sushi Restaurants in America, 

Eater National Nine Exceptional Omakase Menus Across the U.S., AND 

Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods named OYa as one of his top 5 favorite restaurants in the country. 

You can kind of see why based on the photos below. 

Instead of freezing our wedding cake for the year because it just takes up space and I don't think it will taste that great, we just ordered the same cake favor ( strawberry grand marnier) and shared it with our family after Christmas dinner. Glad we ordered it from a regular cake shop so that we can do this every year!!!!!

Time to get some work done. Rotations start Monday!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN: Black Widow outfit DIY

Since Halloween is on a Thursday this year we celebrated early this past weekend. The theme was Superheros. I have to admit it was pretty damn cool. While we were all waiting in the dining room for the rest of the group, it looked like a crossover episode with all the heroes;  discussing how to save the world over dinner.

THE HEROES

THE AVENGERS minus Hulk

Our friend's IRON MAN outfit is also a DIY! Isn't it super cool???

I chose to be Black Widow this year because I thought all black leather would be kicka$$! That and my husband is Captain America and if you are a Marvel nerd you know that Black Widow and Captain America will have a somewhat complex relationship.

Here are my inspirational photos

 It was very simple to do. All you need is:

Black Jumpsuit: Could use black leather pants/leggings with leather jacket.
Bullets: For bracelets and belt. Spray paint this black.
Leather Biker gloves
S.H.I.E.L.D patches: made out of foam and felt. Taped them onto suit.
Black Belt : Use old one and taped foam cutout onto belt.

 This took the longest time because I had to make sure it was cut correctly and looked equal.

Using foam I cut out the black widow symbol and taped it onto an old belt. 

These were my bullets- post black spray paint and used as part of my bracelet. 

Not sure if you can even see it but I even dyed my hair red for Halloween. I wish it came out more red! This is how intense I can be with Halloween. LOVE IT!

I just wish I was young enough to get some free candy!!!! 

TRICK OR TREAT!

Pumpkin lovin'

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and this year is our FIRST as a couple celebrating it together! OF COURSE we have to have matching outfits which I am in the process of making but that is for another future post.
In the past AKA Before Marley, the Mister has made our house into a non-doorbell ringing home which probably marked us to the neighborhood kids as a NO CANDY ZONE.
Last year NO ONE rang our doorbell!!!!  So this year our goal was to make our front yard as halloweenieeee as possible. We set up some decorations and motion activated monsters ( which scared the heck out of me so we left it on the OFF button until Halloween day!). 
We also made our very first pumpkins. 

Can you guess which is his and which is mine???

The idea of picking pumpkins and carving them is fun but when you're actually carving, it's REALLY HARD and sortof annoying. So much to clean up and it was pretty ugly when we started out so it was a bit discouraging but after seeing our artwork come together- we both ended up with great pumpkins!
Have a happy Pumpkin picking! 

9-21-13 The Day I CONQUERED the Road

9-21-13 Is the day I GOT OVER MY FEAR of driving.
223 miles, 3 hrs and 10 minutes
It wasn't so bad. 
***
You may go, really that's nothing, I've driven 123456789 miles before. Well honey, if you know me the furthest I've EVER driven is down the street and back! 
OK- maybe not that bad but I am the typical ASIAN FEMALE DRIVER. I do not like to go on highways and if I possible I would take the LONGESTTTTT local route just to avoid it. 
The furthest I've ever driven in my whole life non-stop is 20 miles and even then, I get sleepy. 
Even my BEST FRIEND did not believe me.
Bestie: Yea right, I don't believe you. Me: I am SO SERIOUS! I am at home and I drove by myself. Bestie: TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR CAR RIGHT NOW and text it to me. Me: -_______- 
I ain't going to lie, when I made it within 100 miles of being away from home, I breathe a sign of relief because if anything happens AAA will tow your car within 100 miles for free!

So HOW  after 4 years of being in VT did I FINALLY get the nerve to go the distance NON-STOP to home? 
Because I miss my Mister :( 
I guess LOVE does Conquer All. Especially the fear of driving. 

Thanks babe. P.S. It did backfire. Now he won't have to pick me up to help drive my car back home....  I have to do it by myself. >.<

Proposal Video

As I am typing this, my hands are literally shaking. My whole body is shaking. I just remember that day so vividly and having this video totally reminded me how nervous I was, confused, excited, and most importantly how much I love this man. I love him so much. 
CLICK HERE to watch.
Click Here for Proposal Post.

Thank you to one of our dear friends Pete for making the video. For more of his work: Here is his youtube channel. WARNING: Sorry for the many OMG..My brain was not processing clearly. My mind was going everywhere, it felt like I wasn't in my body. I was too overjoyed to cry....but did so- 3 days later when it hit me... hahah

Location, Location, Location: Tips on choosing a wedding venue.

FACT When you mention the word 'wedding' versus a retirement or birthday party, the price automatically jumps up.
1. Take the time to think outside the box and find locations that are atypical to weddings which is a cost saver if you are not too picky about what the place looks like.  
2. Make a list will help break down what you really want versus what you don't really need. 
3. For us, we wanted the Chinese food but not the Chinese banquet hall. If it wasn't for that, we would just do a Chinatown wedding. 
Our List of non-negotiable: Ability to have Open Bar/outside liquor ( always a hit for the guests) Amount of guests it could fit (150-200) Outside catering Close to Boston (within 20 miles) Have parking or garages available
With this list, it came down to 6 locations. I will share my list with you so that if you are interested you can find them in your local area. Every location is different but you can see the price differences in each one. 
Community Center such as ELKS/American Legion Post

Pros:
- Full kitchen where the cater can do everything.
- Super affordable rental- Only $550 for 5 hours and included all the chairs/tables.

Cons:
- Too tight of a space and the ceilings were not high enough for our entrance
- Open Bar was only possible if we use their bartender ( $40) plus cost of drinks, which there was no way to really track it and could overcharge us.
- Total privacy would not be possible because they can't close the bar to the community veterans which would make for some awkwardness or party crashers.

Elks Lodge

American Legion Post

Nightclub

Room Rental: 5000-7500/4 hours. 1000/additional hour. Pros: - They have a stage so if you want some separation for the bride/groom and dinner guests or if you want performances at your wedding.  - Full DJ Booth, full sound and lighting system, and sound system available.  Cons: - Since it is a nightclub, they will definitely kick your party out by 10/11pm since they have to prepare for the clubbers. In all honestly I felt that if we did get married at a nightclub, our friends would NOT be surprised. Especially since that is how we first met. 

Royale

Hotel
Hotels can be pricey! But not only are you paying for atmosphere but also the service. Most all of these places includes a day of coordinator or some sort of event planner that helps you with your day so you don't have to worry.  For Boston Park Plaza Hotel, it's expensive, it's beautiful and it best represents Boston- Sophisticated, Elegant, Luxurious. Floor to ceiling windows, ballrooms, crystal chandeliers, and white glove service! Room for up to 250+ guests Cost can be anywhere between $15,000- 30,000.
We said no because the costs of bartenders and guests were around $13,000.   Boston Park Plaza Hotel

I put the library because my friends recently got married here and it's a really beautiful venue! The pricing is similar to hotel prices especially since you have to go through a specific catering company. 
Library

Image by henryandmac

Image by shangchenphoto

Function Space
(e.g. Spring Step, Cyclorama, Art Studio)  These are the types of places that you wouldn't think to get married in but are actually quite popular due to price and just out of the box locations. Rentals for the location is not too bad, can range about $500-1,000/hr. Keep in mind the location may not have items such as chairs, tables, plates, etc which can increase your budget especially if you have to rent items.  For some function spaces, there is an anything goes policy so you could get away with some things that a hotel may not let you get away with ( AS LONG AS ITS LEGAL!).  Cyclorama

Image by kellydillonphoto

Spring Step

Good luck in finding your location :) 

Last night at home... again.

Going back and forth and traveling every which way is a bit exhausting.    Long distance is hard and it's something I thought I could get use to but in reality - I can't. Even though our whole relationship was long distance, I feel that marriage has made a change in me. It is all about priorities, not just mines, but ours now. 
Sometimes I am TOO SELFISH and the Mister is always SELFLESS. He is always encouraging me to do what I want/need to do for my future career goals, even if he knows he will get the short end of the stick. 
I have to remind myself that this isn't just my life, its OURS.  Whatever I chose to decide, you are my forethought. 
*** Onto happy thoughts...  While traveling from rotation to rotation, driving and making stops between 3 different states, in a span of a weekend - I was able to have some fun. 
+ I got to see my hubby!!!!
+ I had dinner with the fam! My mom finally let Hubby pay for dinner and not go berserk on him. Usually she is a ninja and tries to jump on the bill before we can.  

+Mom and Dad's first time at Mixx ( a local froyo location). So it was cute when my dad was trying out the different favors because he's NEVER ever had self serve before. 

My head is twice the size of my baby sisters >.< I know I have a big head but it looks HUMONGOUS here!

+ Went to a BBQ and said goodbye to a friend (also going away to Pharm school!)
+ Pool Party! My first and probably last pool party of the summer. My Superman was not super when he got a splinter on his toe. 

I was his SuperWoman for the day!  :)