*luncheon*with*the*girls* TODAY

remember

that

*pink* and *white*

invite

i received a

few weeks ago?

i'm attending the luncheon today.

**

i'm excited to see what the dress looks like.

**

i can't believe the wedding's in 9 more months!

BLAHHHH!!!

**

**

**

have a nice Satur.

**

**

...and HaPPy 26th BiRTHDaY, ELiSa.

a pink & white *invite*

something that has made me

*love*my*SEPT*

so far:

*

a pink & white *invite*

that i got this

week from my

beautiful *bride-to-be* friend,

Elisa

pretty much,

it invited her bridesmaids

to a luncheon

on October 2nd

[her birthday...how cute!!]
to mingle and munch

while trying on the dress(es)

she picked for us

the cutest part is

it's written in a poem

[...and ya'll know how that stops my heart still]

Ooooo...it's at the Wedding Salon of Manhasset

[can't expect anything less fabulous from Elisa]

Alejandro, above,

so into the *invite*

[isn't he getting SO big??!!]

remember when he was just a little guy??

we thought he was going to be a runt.
Haa Haa!!

Not anymore!

**

**

so...

...back to my pink & white *invite*...

...i'm so excited for the luncheon,

and

of course immediately

started thinking of

what i am going to wear to it...

...hmmmmmm...

i

thought

something

fall-ish/autumn-ey

so

perhaps

something

with a three-quarter sleeve...

...but

i still

wanted it

to be

a happy

color or pattern...

...

...

...

...and then

i came across

this dress:

...and thought that would be peeeerrrfect

for an early-October luncheon with the girls!

*

[to see it in runway action, click here.]

*

it's gauzy,

it's girly,

it's fall-fashion, while still capturing something special about summer...the flowers?? idk.

*

oh!

i love.

*

i'm going to prob

pair it with

black stockings

[maybe grey plaid??]

and

black flats.

*

needless to say,

i bought it.

*

i figure even if i don't wear it

on October 2,

i could wear it all year long

to sub.

major plus!

*

another plus:

it's easy to slip on and off in the dressing room

whilst trying on zee dress!
**

**

...and speaking of *zee*dress*...

...i wonder what it's going to look like!

*

remember

this post?...uh...maybe you don't.

check it out.

it explains Elisa & I's

half-assed first attempt at bridesmaid-dress shopping.

it also first talks about

the color Elisa was scouting

for her bridesmaid dresses:

light light pink.

*

wonder if any

of these

are *zee*one*:::

nah.

not this one.

it's too short.

Elisa didn't want short.

right color, though.
**

**

hmmm...maybe like this.

she wanted flowy & soft.

**
**

now this is what I'm saying! it's all about the drama, baby!

i'd be bringin' sexi back, yeah!

**

can't wait!

heyyyyyy...

...maybe the dress is like those on the invite.

DUH!

pink top? white skirt?

we'll see, I guess.

**

Happy Wedn.

*two girls* & *dresses* & light *pink* peonies

hi!

**

my buddyGALfriend

*elisa*

is getting married

*Sunday, July 3rd, 2011*

**

yesterday,

we travelled to a little

dress boutique in

her convertible-topped VW,

blastin' music:

[she's such a ginzo, but that's part of her charm]

**

at the boutique,

we were

completely, non-seriously, half-heartedly

browsing for

*bridesmaid dresses*
when we

stumbled upon a few

fun ones:

she is a shiny, pink, disco ball to me
i'm a more bright-hued, ruffle-maniac
**
[we were both too lazy to actually try on so
over-the-head hanger slip worked fine]
**
so,
elisa
was telling
me that she
wants
light light soft pink
for the bridesmaids'
dresses
[P.S. - she's having NINE! bridesmaids,
and about 5 junior bridesmaids...yeah...big fat Italian wedding]
**
i did some
*color-spiration*
searching
for her
and
found
the following
images:
i found
"her color"
is that of
*soft pink peonies*

i think it'll be lovely...the whole shabang
[...and for some reason, I was getting giddily excited]

happy fri.

a couple of goofs...

...at a weddin'

on a Saturday afternoon

in May,

okay??!!??!!

oh Lord.

**

**

nice skyline,

builders of NYC.

ya did good.

**

**

*cheeeeeeeese*

**

**

i couldn't NOT be dumb.

**

**

looking down

at the

*mini tripod*

[it's completely ridiculous ]
**

**

i must say, they were a great looking couple.

she had that ecstatic super-smile on the whole day.

that's what I want as a bride. one day...maybe.

**

**
below is my favorite scene from the reception.

it explains why I love Beyonce, why I love this song, & why I love Filipinos:

happy Tuesday.

[i'm going subbing today!!]

[oh yeah, baby!! back in business!!]

hey hey, hey hey *MAY*

it's

MAY

1st

e'rybody

What??!!??!!

* * * * * * *

* * * *

i've already done
four

full

*2010*

months

of BLOGGIN'??!!??!!

No way, Jose!

Haa haa!

[it has been so much fun so far.]

Can you tell

that my fever was

in full effect when

I was making my

*MAY*

page in my planner?
Oh, aren't those lovely??
* * * * * * * * * * *

I

gots

me

a

lovely

little

DAY

WEDDING

to attend

today.

* * * *

*yay*

* * * *

*yay* for my dress.

*yay* for my shoesies.

*yay* for my red manicure/pedicure.

*yay* for my soft-curled hair.

*yay* for the wine i'm-a-be drankin' @ around 12 p.m.

* * * *

*yay*

* * * *

Oh yeah.

I bought myself the $7.00 necklace from Forevs.

[I would've provided the link above, but I can't find the neck-ee-lace on the Forever21 website. Perhaps it sold like hotcakes and is no longer available. Whatever.]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Have a sensational Saturday, best ya can, lovey dovies.

hey hey, hey hey *MAY*...hooray.

Help.

“There is a time when we must firmly choose the course which we will follow or the endless drift of events will make the decision for us.”

-- Herbert Prochnow
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

** ** ** ** ** **

** ** ** **

okay, Herby P.

that's all well and good and i get that,

but how can you firmly choose the course

when you feel so fuckin'....

...yeah, those things.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Help.

Have you ever felt HOT one minute & COLD the next minute about a decision you had to make??

*

Have you ever felt so completely bipolar about a constant in your life, be it a job, a lover, an outfit, what to have for breakfast, etc.??

*

Have you ever gone through your day so high on everything that makes up your life from, like, 11:34 a.m. to 12:13 p.m, to only then, the next friggin' minute -- at 12:14 p.m., become a panicky, turbulent mess inside because you fuckin' just don't know??!!??!!

*

*

*

pleeeaaasssseee tell me you have.

you must tell me you have,

and

you must tell me all about it,

because i've been feeling so fuckin' torn.

torn & forlorn. Help.

*

*

*

*birthday* party TURNED *engagement* party!!

my good friend Carlo's 26th birthday dinner was this past Friday,

& right before the main course came out,

he *popped the question* to his girlfriend, Natalie

** ** **

** **

Carlo & Natalie,

I wish you a lovely

engagement, &

a happy journey to marriage & beyond!

[yay!]

Some more shots from the night:

Josh, Carlo, & Elisa, above, my high school buddies

*** *** ***

Elisa & I

[a.k.a. Snookie & A-Zoww]

*** *** ***

*** ***

him & I

[an all too goofy face by him, & me]

*** *** ***

*** ***

Elisa's showing him some love...

...by grabbing his chest

[at least she wasn't grabbing mine!]

*** *** ***
*** ***

Mmmm...

remnants of the night.

my Nana used to call it 'gravy'.

*** *** ***
*** ***

Tomas took this pic of me off guard, & then said,

"THIS IS YOUR MOM."

Yeah.

Kinda is.

[...and random observation:

my lips are like my body: bottom-heavy]

*** *** ***
*** ***

Cheers!

my *most* favorite part(s)

we all have favorite parts.

* *

* *

this is my most favorite part.

[pic above found amongst these.]

* *
* *
these are also parts that I love most.
* *
* *
everyone...
...every single person...
deserves these parts in their own life,
in their own way.
* *
* *
yeah.
* *
* *
so.
* *
* *
okay.
* *
* *

true love is true love is true love is true love where is true love is true love is true love is

i *finished* it

i looooove being able to say that i finished it.

It was one of my first goals of *2010* and I've already accomplished it.

Yessssss!

*** *** ***

So, of course, I encourage you guys to read it. Elizabeth Gilbert breaks up the book into three parts:

the eat part - which she did in Italy

the pray part - which she did in India

and then

the love part - which she did in Indonesia

*

the Indonesia segment has so much good writing in it [I mean, the whole book did, but I really enjoyed Indonesia]

Here are two of my favorite excerpts [just to wet your appetite a bit]:

Felipe, a man Liz meets while in Indonesia, tries to convince her to have a romance while she's in Bali.

Liz responds with:

"I don't think I'm ready for it. I don't feel like going through all the effort of romance again, you know? I don't feel like having to shave my legs every day or having to show my body to a new lover. And I don't want to have to tell my life story over again, or worry about birth control. Anyway, I'm not even sure I know how to do it anymore. I feel like I was more confident about sex and romance when I was sixteen than I am now."

Felipe says in return:

"Of course you were; you were young and stupid then. Only the young and stupid are confident about sex and romance. Do you think any of us know what we're doing? Do you think there's any way humans can love each other without complication? You should see how it happens in Bali, darling. All these Western men come here after they've made a mess of their lives back home, and they decide they've had it with Western women, and they go marry some tiny, sweet, obedient little Balinese teenage girl. I know what they're thinking. They think this pretty little girl will make them happy, make their lives easy. But wherever I see it happen, I always want to say the same thing. Good luck. Because you still have a woman in front of you, my friend. And you are still a man. It's still two human beings trying to get along, so it's going to become complicated. And love is always complicated. But still humans must try to love each other, darling. We must get out hearts broken sometimes. This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we've tried for something."

It really had me thinking.

The second piece of writing that hit home to me was when Gilbert writes reflectively about her past relationships and her analysis of why she's been unsuccessful at them:

"I have a history of making decisions very quickly about men. I have always fallen in love fast without measuring risks. I have a tendency not only to see the best in everyone, but to assume that everyone is emotionally capable of reaching his highest potential. I have fallen in love more times than I care to count with the highest potential of a man, rather than with the man himself, and then I have hung on to the relationship for a long time (sometimes far too long) waiting for the man to ascend to his own greatness. Many times in romance I have been the victim of my own optimism.

I married young and quick, from a place of love and hope, but without a lot of discussion over what the realities of marriage would mean. Nobody advised me on marriage. I had been raised by parents to be independent, self-providing, self-deciding...of course the world was not always like this. If I'd been born during any other century of Western patriarchy, I would've been considered the property of my father, until which time he passed me over to my husband, to become marital property. I would've had precious little say in the major matters of my own life. At one time in history, if a man had been my suitor, my father might have sat that man down with a long list of questions to establish whether this would be an appropriate match. He would have wanted to know,

'How will you provide for my daughter?'

'What is your reputation in this community?'

'How is your health?'

'Where will you take her to live?'

'What are your debts and your assets?'

'What are the strengths of your character?'

My father would not have just given me away in marriage to anybody for the mere fact that I was in love with the fellow. But in modern life, when I made the decision to marry, my modern father didn't become involved at all. He would have no more interfered with that decision than he would have told me how to style my hair.

I have no nostalgia for the patriarchy, please believe me. But what I have come to realize is that, when the patriarchic system was (rightfully) dismantled, it was not necessarily replaced by another form of protection. What I mean is -- I never thought to ask a suitor the same challenging questions my father might have asked him, in a different age. I have given myself away in love many times, merely for the sake of love. And I've given away the farm sometimes in that process. If I am truly to become an autonomous woman, then I must take over that role of being my own guardian. Famously, Gloria Steinem once advised women that they should strive to become like the men they had always wanted to marry. What I've only recently realized is that I not only have to become my own husband, but I need to be my own father, too."

Wow, right?

It rings so incredibly true.

I will be one of the first in line for the movie, out in August of this year. You've got a couple months to read it, if you haven't yet. I can't imagine it being better than the book, but it might be entertaining, if nothing else.

Happy Wednesday, loves.

Have you read any good books lately?

Hawaii (Hula) Vibes Week comes to an *end*

Aloha, to you.

It means hi

it means goodbye

& it means love.

That one word has all three meanings.

*

This is important to me because with my BLOG's

Hawaii (Hula) Vibes Week

coming to an end, I feel a sense of all three.

*
*

Aloha Hello

to you for returning, or first visiting,

and

to my new dream of visiting Hawaii *one day.*
It's kind of like me saying,

"Aloha, dream, it's nice to have you in my head.

I hope to one day make you a reality, and then

we can both be blissed out in celebration.

Won't that be exciting?!"

*

*

Aloha Goodbye

to my original dream which caused me to make

this week (Hula) Vibes Week in the first place - the dream of

winning a contest my local news was hosting.

I would've won a five-night stay in O'ahu, but

I know I didn't win because they supposedly told

the winner Friday.

I didn't get any call.

*

*

Aloha Love

because my small, seemingly insignificant searches

on the web for all things Hawaii and (Hula) have

brought me such a high, weightless feeling of contentment,

almost like a know there is a far away place in this world

whose culture and scenery and environment will be so

fantastical to me.

[I even found this blog I'll be regularly checking out.]

*

*

maybe i'm not meant to win a contest now.

*

maybe i'm meant to travel there on a whim.

*

maybe i'll be there when or if this happens:

maybe i'll be there while like this. OMG.

*

Who knooowssss??!!

*

*

But I know I've realized a dream this week,

a dream of where I wanna get myself,

one way or the other.

*

*

[my BLOG has been magical for this reason, alone, if for none other]

*

I know I'll get there one day.

RE: *outfit sketch* from earlier this week

(a post more on the lighter side than what i've been postin')

This post is a reply to

my post from earlier this week

about my

take on *marriage*.

Bottom line:

I'm so confused by marriage I could pee!!

So many of my friends

already are

or

[are getting] married...

...and *the shows* don't make it better:

Bridezillas

Platinum Weddings

Say 'Yes' to the Dress

My Fair Wedding

...and then with this past weekend's

*Dylan & Toni*

Beverly Hills, 90210

*tear-fest* I had sunday morning,

my emotions were all over the place.

I really needed some comic relief

to balance out all

the confusion.

Soooo...

after extensive "research"

(a.k.a. aimless web-surfing)

I think I found

what might make me

feel better:

Yep.

That'll do it.

my *1995* is HERE

oh, ever the winds of *chance*

my sunday morning started with a

cup of coffee,

web surfing,

& flippin' through channels for

something decent to watch.

Then,

there

on the Fios guide popped my past:

Beverly Hills, 90210

& upon my soul signaling me to

keep it on,

I discovered it was

my favorite season,

with my two favorite characters

from all

10 seasons of the show:

*Dylan & Toni*

(pic above found here.)

The episodes that aired sunday morning
were first aired in 1995,
when I was in the 5th grade,
and I still
*to this day*, on occasion,
think about how much I loved watching
this fictional couple love each other.

Even though they're characters,
and their story is fiction,
in this case,
the fiction transcends the screen**,
and enters your heart.

i believe that's what it did for
me back in 1995,
and
only this past sunday,
fifteen years later
did ever the winds of *chance*
re-awaken their story in my heart
...and what timing!

i can only assume someone or thing
hears the confusion in my heart,
and wants me to know
it'll be okay.

i had to share this with you, readers,
because it had me in tears, on
a lazy sunday morning in my pajamas.

Here's some clips from
*Dylan & Toni's*
story:





(great caption from the above clip @ 4:40)
Toni: Kelly looks absolutely stunning tonight, doesn't she?
Dylan: I really hadn't noticed. I was too busy looking at you.
Toni: Good answer.

Of course, Dylan asks Toni to marry him, but I don't have that clip.
But after the proposal, here's some more:



Dylan: All my life, people have told me I was running away from something. I always felt I was running to something. I just didn't know what that was until now. I love you. I always will.
Toni: You don't have to run anymore, Dylan...I love you with all my heart and soul.


The gorgeous song in the above clip is

Nobody Knows Me

by

Lyle Lovett

**reader, my dear, please don't underestimate the power of the T.V. as a vehicle for *art*. Just like the printed page, when written well & acted well, even a cheesy show like Beverly Hills, 90210 can be divine poetry. I encourage you to open your heart, and hear it. :)

Okay, I'm wiping the tears off now, hee hee.

I'm off to GRAD school.

I have a presentation to make today.

Love yous.

xoxo,

*amanda*

*outfit sketch* for the future?? maybe...??

oh my goodness, reader

i am soo f***ed up!

here i am *outfit sketching* myself in a wedding dress!!

I'm nowhere near ready to get married,

plus I'm pretty sure i don't believe in the institution of marriage itself,

yet here i am, knowing EXACTLY how I'm going to look on 'my wedding day'.

WTF??!!

can you say "L"oser??!!

Well, as the picture says,

maybe this'll be me

*one day.*

(when my hair's just as long as in the photo...haa haa...)

Although I'm unsure about marriage,

i AM sure about *dresses*
my Bitt & I even made up a song about dresses

(maybe I'll record it & post it one day)

i *heart* dresses

what do you think on the manner?

to wed or not to wed one day?

and

how do you **know**??