Sun Moon Stars Girl )-(

Welcome to my little place to vent…

My parents have graciously offered to give me a plane trip home this week as this year’s Christmas present. I couldn’t be happier. This is the perfect present as I will be able to see reception sites first hand (I won’t have to rely soley on my mother’s discrection). Additionally, I will be able to meet with the pastor (Father John) of our church.

My mom’s done a great job getting me info so that the both of us could make availability requests (and to my surprise and relief there ARE MANY places that still have availability for our date!), and then make appointments to see.

Currently considering the following reception sites, based on availability, location, size, and price (* are my current favorites, based on stats alone):
*The Grand Summit Hotel in Summit
The Crystal Plaza in Livingston
The Atrium Country Club in West Orange
Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange
*The Wilshire Grand Hotel in West Orange
The Forge in Woodbridge
Hilton Woodbridge in Iselin
The Sheraton at Woodbridge Place in Iselin
The Somerset Hills Hotel in Warren
*The Olde Mill Inn in Basking Ridge
The Victorian Manor in Edison
The Imperial on Easton in Somerset
*The Palace at Somerset Park in Somerset

I’m leaving in a couple hours to make the trip to NJ from CA. Woot!

WEDDING GOWNS
I have already tried all these dresses on and love them. It’s a hard decision when it comes to bridal gowns!
*Note: The descriptors below the dresses are in the same order as the pictures.

David’s Bridal:

Oleg Cassini #CT129 – A-line, strapless, swirled edging
Monique Luo #CQ110 – A-line, strapless, natural waist, “triple” layer lace, scallop edge
V8820 – A-line, strapless, asymmetric waist, pink rooshing crystals, split in side
T8584 - A-line, strapless, asymmetric waist, clear rooshing crystals

Maggie Sottero:

Daniella – Asymmetric waist, corset lace-up back, small train, 2 fabrics
(Pancaldi) Sylvia - Asymmetric waist, corset lace-up back, small train, “flowy”

BRIDESMAIDS
These are the nicest ones I have found that have a whole range of choices AND come in periwinkle. Hopefully this will help the girls with their decision.

David’s Bridal:
The skirt I like the most: 8552
Also tea-length and will do: 81112
Tops: Any of these are ok: 8226, 8326, 8480, F81236, F8999, 8561

The color Hyacinth is nice too - but doesn’t have a nice skirt
(In fact the ONLY skirt is 81253)
Tops: 81243, 81249, 81250

Some dresses that are ok and come in Peri: 8933, 8355, 8782

The Dessy Group (Dessy, After Six, and Alfred Sung):
Dessy Dresses:
Here’s the styles I liked that come in Peri:
1996, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2018

After Six Dresses:
The styles I liked (in no particular order):
A6263, A6261, A6259, A6247, A6246, A6242, A6223, A6215, A6211

Alfred Sung Dresses:
Again, the dresses that were nice:
D316, D311, D303, D302, D301

Alfred Sung Seperates (Sorry I couldn’t link them directly like the above choices):
Skirts, a bit more choice here (from like most to least):
B205, B201, B203, B205, B208
Tops, WAY more choices (no order, basically if it’s NOT listed, it doesn’t come in peri):
T100, T102, T103(kinda bleh), T104, T105, T106, T107, T108, T110, T111, T112, T113, T114, T115, T118, T119, T120

Kris and I went away to Lake Arrowhead for just a small overnight Mini Break/romantic getaway. We picked up some info from a bridal shop about tuxes, and about honeymoon locations. Since we were on vacation, we thought it would be good to look at some of the honeymoon vacation information - so we’re looking at Europe, Mexico, Hawaii, and Tahiti/French Polynesia in the South Pacific.

We had lots of time to kill before our 8 PM dinner reservation, so we went to the Lake Arrowhead village shopping area. It’s right on the lake, and they were having an Oktoberfest Celebration. I loved the large inflatable pumpkin - which I later realized was a bouncy castle!!! We also took some time to go to a jeweler, and check our ring sizes and the types of rings we can get as wedding bands. We both want something simple - and that matches. We’ll probably end up both with plain platinum bands.

Our dinner was fantastic! I highly recommend for anyone who goes up to Lake Arrowhead/Big Bear to go to the small Italian restuarant at the B&B we stayed at. It was the best Italian food I think I’ve ever had. The name of the place we stayed is The Storybook Inn, actually in Sky Forest, and we ate there at Cucina Cielo. We had a WONDERFUL view of the inland empire, both at night for dinner, AND in the morning for breakfast. The breakfast was also awesome - there was french toast with pecans - so yummy (drool!). I have to add - the rooms were all named, which I thought was fun. We stayed in “Goldilocks” - and let me tell you - the bed was just right.

Yup, this week my mom researched if the church had the date available that I was hoping for. Kris and I sat down - and we set the date!
Saturday, August 11, 2007

The date is sentimental, as it is basically when we started “officially” dating. It’s also in August, so the weather in NJ will be nice (hopefully), or at least warm, and it’s summer so hopefully people will be able to travel easily and join us for our special day.

I still can’t believe we’re getting married!

Yay! I passed!!! I guess that’s the most important part…

I consulted with a few people that had just advanced for advice of what to expect on the “big day.” A couple of them were still freaked out, but I got the actual low-down from one girl. She told me that they ask you to leave the room before you even get started. They talk about your paper and how you’ve already passed. Then they let you back in, and you give your presentation. I don’t know if they are supposed to interrupt or let you talk and then ask questions, but I wasn’t going to care either way. As it turned out, they did stop along the way and ask MANY questions; they also gave me a LOT of good suggestions. I still have to write a small addendum by the beginning of December, but hopefully that won’t be a huge deal.

So - even though I passed - there’s still a ton of other stuff that needs to get taken care of. I need to get a signature from the department chair. I need to get a signature from the Associate Dean (but he knows me - I did a rotation in his lab). I need to get a check for $65 (which I am VERY glad I do not have to pay for myself) from the department (Biological Sciences). THEN I need to bring the entire form AND check to the cashier’s office, get the check cashed (by them), and get the form stamped. FINALLY I can hand the stamped form into the Office of Graduate Studies - but only AFTER I’ve gotten a signature from them. I think this paperwork part is going to take longer, and be more stressful, then the presentation was!

Ok, so once again, the Advancement to Candidacy is the step at UCI after preliminary qualifying exams. You have to write a paper proposing your PhD thesis research, then give a presentation a week later. As I mentioned before, this is basically done to make sure that you have a realistic thesis project, and to give you feedback as well as to determine if your goals are achievable in a usual PhD timeframe (5-6 years - which of course is only like 3-4 years at this point).

I’m exhausted, so I’m going to pass out….

Yay!

Ok, first of all I want to say that for the past couple months I have been insanely busy both writing and trying to complete experiments for my upcoming Advancement to (PhD) Candidacy. The paper has been submitted (after one crazy week trying to get it polished and wanting to tell everyone about my engagement AND start wedding plans), but I’m still working on my presentation, which will be my very first meeting with my committee to make sure that my project is both sound and that the goals are achiavable for a PhD thesis. That presentation will be this coming Thursday, October 19th, and I will definately post an update about the results.

So, basically this “update” is to try to answer those first questions everyone might have. At the time, these are only preliminary decisions, based mostly on talks Kris and I have had during the past couple years, and NOT on any discussion from the past week. Once I pass my Advancement, then we’ll sit down and make those more detailed decisions.

1) It’s going to be in New Jersey. Yes, this IS definate. It will be hard to plan from here in CA, but that’s where most of my family is - and most of Kris’s is on the East Coast too.

2) It will be a Catholic ceremony, at St. Bart’s, in Scotch Plains. This is the church I “grew up” at. Kris and I also know that it is a big deal for our families to be a church wedding.

3) We would like it to be next year, hopefully in August. I know we’ve got less than a year to plan it for that time, and I have no idea whether or not the church or ANY reception sites still have openings, but we’re going to try to find out ASAP.

4) People IN the wedding party: My sister Laura is going to be my Maid of Honor, and my cousin Jerilyn is going to be a bridesmaid. I’m pretty sure Kris’s brothers are going to be his Best Man and groomsman. Beyond that, we have not discussed anything. I DO want a flower girl AND ring bearer if possible.

5) Color: I love purple, Kris’s favorite is blue - Periwinkle is the mix of both.

6) I DO have an idea of the dress I’m going to buy, I’ll get a picture posted AFTER my advancement. Here’s a link to it for the time being: Christine’s Gown
Other things which may be important to some: (I stole the idea for this type of list from Sabrina, thanks, and sorry )
Gown - definately WHITE, and not this crappy “diamond white,” which is all the rage, but still “off-white” and NOT what I want.
Silver-y trim (if the gown, such as the one I want) comes with such an option
YES - One-layer veil
YES - Tiara
NO - gloves (I agree with Sabrina, good god, NO gloves!)
YES - Train: BUT short, no bustle, instead a hand-held “hook” so it doesn’t drag when walking, dancing, etc.
My friend Valerie is doing my makeup.
I’m definately leaving my cartilidge earring in (and so is Kris).

7) My parents will be paying for (most of?) it. Yay.

I can’t think of anything else we’d talked about before now, and I’m sure everyone will have about a billion more questions, but hopefully this post will ward some of the preliminary ones off. If you have any questions, or better yet, suggestions for nice and not too expensive sites for receptions in the Union/Essex/Morris/Somerset/Middlesex County areas of NJ, let me know. (Also post if there’s places we should avoid!)

Ok, it’s been a long time since I posted, but I absolutely had to get this one up here!

At the Prescott Rally last weekend, Kris proposed to me!
He asked my father for my hand at dinner the previous Thursday night in front of all 4 of our parents while I was in the bathroom. My dad said, “Sure” and shook his hand. HIS father said, “Kris, that’s great!” and shook his hand. (Apparently) the moms got teary. They asked when the proposal would be, and Kris said, “It’s in the works.”

I had no idea. At the rally, there is a “turn-around” stage. Basically, you drive down one road, and it dead ends - so you have to stop and wait for everyone else while they finish, before you
turn around and go back. I’d gotten out of the car to walk around and talk to people - usually you have quite a bit of time during the turn-around. Kris asked me to get back into the car to “see if the camera would hit me in the head.” My first thoughts were, ‘why the heck is it pointed out the window that way, it must be some new weird angle Kris wants to try,’ and ‘no ways this is gonna hit me in the head, I’ll be all strapped into the seat.’ Next thing I know Kris is getting down next to me. “Well, this is kinda on one knee,” he says as he gets out a box from one pocket, opens it, and gets a piece of paper out of the other.

Kris had a wonderfully nice proposal speech, and I said “Yes, of course!” We both cried, then got to announce our engagement to all our friends waiting there with us. Most of them did not realize it had happened right then. Our parents did not know until we came back for a service stop, but they were watching us drive that exact same stage. Also, the rally people tried to annouce it over the radio, but they got us and our car number confused along the way - so LOTS of people didn’t realize it was US who got engaged - but they all congratulated us at the rally finish and awards.

Did I mention we finished the national rally first in class? We also got a podium for the tougher regional class! Wow, what an awesome weekend!

Here’s a few pictures, because right now I am VERY busy working on my Advancement to PhD Candidacy.
The engagement (Kris), the ring, and the hand.
Remember to go to rallynotes for more pictures, and our press release about the event!