Kel. 28. Lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Graduated from UC Berkeley 2001. Has a small obsession with TV. Enjoys chick lit and teen movies. Major shopaholic. Blogging since January 17, 2002.

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Date/Time: Thurs, Feb 07 @ 11:15pm
Reading: Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Listening: Popular, Wicked Soundtrack

 Barry.  Emma.  Kelly.  Kate.  Linda.  Marieke.  Marina.  Reen.  Robyn.

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December 25, 2007

I think I've eaten more food in the past few days than I have all year.

Hope everyone who celebrates had a very Merry Christmas! :D

Posted by Kel at 11:43 PM | Comments (2)

December 24, 2007

Just wanted to sneak on here to say I've been MIA lately because I'm in Southern CA for Christmas. My dad has the worst internet access at his house (DIAL-UP... can you IMAGINE?!) so I try not to be online for very long because I know I'll be tempted to throw something at the computer for running so slowly. It's painful. I mean, the Google homepage takes about 5 minutes to load. Seriously.

Before I take off, I want to apologize to Alie and Kelly because I completely spaced and forgot to go to the post office to mail your holiday cards. :( They're going to end up as Happy New Year cards. :/

Anyway, I'll be back in the Bay Area by the end of the week and I'll post more then. :D

Posted by Kel at 12:31 AM | Comments (3)

December 15, 2007

December is flying by waaaayyy too quickly. Starting next Thursday, I'll be done with work for the year. I'm taking advantage of a couple of vacation days and then my company is closed the entire week between Christmas and New Year. YOU GUYS. That means I have 13 days of time off. Seriously, I'm so ridiculously happy I could cry. But first, I have to get through 3 more days and a mountain of work to complete before that time. EEEKKK. I'm not going to think about that right now. :/

Today, I'm going to head into the city for afternoon tea with my old college roommate Shirley and her friends. Should be fun! While I'm downtown, I'll probably attempt to do some holiday shopping... if it isn't too crowded. I have so much to do and so little time! :P

Before I go, I want to share my Christmas tree! It's the same gold/ivory theme as the years prior...

Mmmm. Sooo pretty.

Posted by Kel at 11:16 AM | Comments (4)

December 9, 2007

Last call for holiday cards! (Yes, I'm still making/writing them -- I am notorious for procrastinating). Please leave me a note in the comments if you'd like one. :D

I've finally been watching my Netflix movies as soon as they arrive... quick thoughts...

Liked Dreamgirls. I expected the singing and acting to be solid (and they were) but I was not expecting Jennifer Hudson to blow me away the way she did. She was *phenomenal.* Recommended.

Also liked Catch and Release. To be honest, I only rented this because I love Jennifer Garner. I didn't think it would be very good and it really wasn't. Part of the problem was that the movie was trying to be so many things -- a romantic comedy, a chick flick, a drama -- and it didn't succeed at any of them. Plus, I thought it was strange that JG's character didn't have any friends other than those of her fiance's. JG was still awesome, despite the story flaws... she's great at conveying so much emotion on her face. I'd only recommend this movie if you're a JG fan. It doesn't really have anything to offer if you're not. :/

Hairspray was AMAZING! It was so fun and engaging -- I loved every moment of it. Go see it now! Highly recommended.

And today I saw Superbad. Surprisingly, I really liked it. It's not normally my kind of humor but the characters managed to take the raunchy jokes and somehow make them... charming. CRAZY. Recommended (as long as you know what you're getting into).

Also, I've seen so many commercials for Atonement that I totally want to read the book (and see the movie). Has anyone read it?

Posted by Kel at 11:04 PM | Comments (7)

December 7, 2007

Sarah, your holiday card was the first I received of the season! Whee! Alie and Marianne, yours arrived today. So exciting. Thank you, thank you. :)

I'm super behind on current TV (Grey's, Ugly Betty, Private Practice, etc) but instead of catching up, I decided to open my OC season 4 DVDs and watch the series finale instead. :D Plus, I figure with the writers strike, I'll have time in the next few months to get up to speed.

Gawd, I miss this show. I don't think I ever blogged about the finale so here goes...

I really adored the entire episode. I was touched by the callbacks to the first season... from the score to the flashbacks of pivotal moments from the pilot (Ryan meeting Seth, Ryan gazing at Marissa as Sandy drives him back to Chino). But what I loved the best was seeing where the characters ended up.

The Coopers (Julie and Kaitlin, that is) are made of awesome. :) I didn't particularly like Kaitlin when she first came back to Newport but in the last season, she showed vulnerability and heart and that was reflected in her relationship with Julie. They turned into such a great mother-daughter team. And when Julie got her college degree with Kaitlin in the audience cheering her on... well, that was icing on the cake.

Seth and Summer getting married was totally expected but I still loved seeing it happen. Their best moment of the finale by far, though, was their goodbye scene. When Summer sat down on the bus, looked at Seth through the window, and put her hand on the glass... Guh. I fell in love with them all over again.

Ryan and Taylor's ending was left open-ended (damn you, Josh Schwartz!) but I think their scenes left pretty good hints of what's to come. :D Or at least that's what *I* like to believe. I mean, come on -- did you SEE Taylor rip Ryan's shirt off as soon as they had a moment alone together? They ooze sexual tension.

I do wish that there would have been some room in the finale for one last Sandy/Ryan scene... and I wish they would have filmed the Berkeley scenes on location. The UCLA and Caltech campuses are gorgeous but they just don't look anything like Cal.

But back to my other favorite moments...
-- Summer giving Julie the locket with Marissa's photo. I always tear up during this scene and I've seen the finale at least 4 or 5 times now.
-- The Valley meta... "Real life Jake and real life April broke up!" I know it can be overdone but I like that the show can poke some fun at itself.
-- Ryan taking Flapjacks out of his hoodie pocket. Awww. Though I admit his pocket was not exactly the best place to hold the little guy.
-- And THE BEST scene of the episode, was definitely this exchange between Ryan and Seth...
Ryan: "I'm a lot better off than when you found me."
Seth: "Me, too."

*sniff*

Posted by Kel at 11:21 PM | Comments (2)

December 1, 2007

You guys up for more wedding dress talk? :D

I've actually been dress shopping a few more times since my last post on the topic.

First up -- Neiman Marcus
I was actually really disappointed in NM. They don't have very many dresses out on the floor (and what they did have on display were more "high fashion bridal" than "regular person bridal") so you have to tell your consultant what you want and then she'll select dresses in the back and bring them to your dressing room. I had a good consultant, though, so this wasn't a problem... but I still wish that I had the chance to browse through their selection on my own and leisurely study the beautiful details on each piece. They do have a really nice, spacious dressing room, which was great -- with the 3 of us in there (I brought my future sister-in-law Susie with me), it never felt cramped. I didn't really care for the dresses I tried on... but there was a memorable Vera Wang and Monique Lhuillier that I'll post pictures of at the end.

I also visited Clarissa Bridal, which is a really nice family-owned salon. I had such great service here! Unfortunately, they seem to be about 3-4 seasons behind in the dresses they carry and while they had a solid selection, I didn't find any that were my style.

After visiting these salons, my mind kept drawing me back to 2 Monique Lhuillier dresses that I saw on my first shopping day. Because I didn't want to go back to the Unique Bride (didn't like my consultant), I went to Bridal Galleria instead (they carry similar designers). I tried on the dresses again but still couldn't decide. I even dragged my cousin in when she visited back in October and she was no help. She insisted that she liked both. So finally, during my trip to Southern CA a few weeks back, I dragged my best friends, my aunt, and my cousin to the Monique Lhuillier flagship store in LA. They overwhelmingly liked one over the other so when I got back to the Bay Area on Monday, I went in to Bridal Galleria to get measured and put my deposit down. THE DRESS arrives in mid-April. SQUEE.

Want to see some pictures? :) (Rob, this is when you stop reading).

More Dresses I Tried On (And Ruled Out)

Monique Lhuillier. This is actually 2 pieces -- a corset-type top with skirt. Beautiful material. Very light. This is part of ML's platinum bridal collection, which means it is VERY expensive. Like celebrity expensive.

 

Vera Wang. Gorgeous tissue organza. Love the details -- from the lace in front to the buttons and roses on the back. Lovely. I really liked it when I tried it on but I showed a photo to a co-worker and she said it looked like lingerie! So this dress was out.

 

Monique Lhuillier. "Snow White." Beautiful but a little too plain for me. (I really want some detailing on the bodice). And it also felt really heavy, which wouldn't work for an outdoor summer wedding.

 

Monique Lhuillier. "Swan Lake." Mmm. The tulle is so whimsical! And I love that the dress really is reminiscent of the ballet. But the deep v-neck made me feel incredibly self-conscious. No go.

 

Monique Lhuillier. "Bianca." Pretty but no "wow" factor for me.

MY TOP 2 CHOICES

Monique Lhuillier. "Elle." I really, really love this dress. But after trying it on 3 times (hehe), I realized that I'm too short for it. The bodice is long and with the amount of tulle they'd have to take off at the bottom, the entire dress wouldn't look proportional after all the alterations.

 

Monique Lhuillier. "Clementine." HERE IT IS. THE ONE. (Well, please ignore the bolero/shrug the model is wearing -- I ordered the strapless dress alone). From the embroidery and sparkle on the bodice, to the slight sweetheart neckline, to the pick-ups, to the bows and buttons on the train... I just LOVE it. SQUEE!!! I originally counted it out because it was over my budget but just could NOT stop thinking about it. I have committed to some serious saving during the next few months. YAY.

Dress down, lots of other wedding tasks to go!

Posted by Kel at 09:49 PM | Comments (8)