# 55 Wedding Cheesecake Trial #2 & #3

WEDDING CHEESECAKE TRIAL #2
8.17.09
I used 1/2 of the Cheesecake Factory recipe. I think I misjudged the time it took to bake the cheesecake because it turned out brown and very custardy. The recipe asked for 5 eggs and to halve it, I just used 2. Was very mediocre. I think I put too much flour in it as well. Overall, bland, rubbery sucker with stale graham cracker crust from the 20s. It said to bake for 1.15 hours and leave it in the oven for another hour with the heat turned off. Baked for 1.15 hours and left in the oven for an extra 15-20 minutes. WAYYYYY epic. NG.(not good)

WEDDING CHEESECAKE TRIAL #3
8.27.09
I didn't want to give up on the Cheesecake Factory recipe so for Thomas' bday I tried again. Oh. My. God. I think this is the one. I used slightly more sour cream and vanilla with a NOT rotten lemon in this batch and added an egg so instead of 2 eggs I opted for 3(in the 1/2 recipe). I took it out of the oven a little earlier than 1.15 hours- maybe 1 hour. I didn't even leave it in the oven to bask in its glory. I tell you- let it refridgerate overnight and the flavors will blossom. I felt like a fatty the next day. Score.

------------TASTE TEST: DONE

---------------------SIZE TEST: not

The next trial I need to go ahead and buy my springform pans so I know how long to leave the cheesecakes in the oven. While I'm at it, I need to make the cream cheese icing so that it'll look polished. CC is so temperamental! I am getting the hang of it though!!

I found this blog called cakemonger.com which has this great post: "Cheesecake Wedding Cake."

# 54 Inglourious Basterds Style

Oh my goodness, I went to see Inglourious Basterds last night without knowing what it was about except that Brad Pitt was in it. The film was excellent with a chillingly talented villain and charming cast of basterds. What truly titallated my sense was seeing the French style of the 1940s, hearing everybody speak French(and some English and some Deutch), and watching the genuine mannerisms of their etiquette. Here are some screen shots of the movie- I went nuts seeing the makeup and hair and especially the hair accessories.

Below: Diane Kruger as a French actress

Even though the flower-in-hair has been overdone, I like the simplicity of this piece. The petals look as though they were slightly sculpted with a sheen on it.

Below: I hate her mini hat but I like the idea of it. It's her makeup that interests me. Dark, sculpted brows, light mascara, pale skin, and red lips. Classic.

This picture cracks me up- having wine with her pompous poodle

Below: Melanie Laurent as Shoshanna Dreyfus

Even though she's just wearing casual clothes, she looks impeccably stylish.

# 53 Hotels Combined Charity post

One of my blog aspirations is to have one or some of my blogs trafficked and thus generating exposure. Chloe Swanson of HotelsCombined found out that I am a huge supporter for Locks of Love (read my post here) and personally e-mailed me saying that if I mentioned what Hotels Combined did, they would donate $20 to a charity. What a wonderful, reverse marketing concept! I adore it- click here to help! The fantastic thing about these promotions is that it’s so easy for you to have your say. You could help your preferred charity within minutes, and without having to save up and spend your own money to do it.

Hotels Combined has you choose the charity and they donate the money!
In order to spread the word about the company, Hotels Combined are currently donating money to one of three charities when you mention them on your blog($20), Tweet them ($10) or become a fan on Facebook($5).

HotelsCombined.com is headquartered in Sydney, Australia and was established in 2005 by a team of business, marketing and technology experts from the online hotel reservation industry including former executives of HotelClub.com, RatesToGo.com and Stella Hospitality Group. What we do HotelsCombined.com is a unique search engine that consumers can use to find hotel availability and rates, and to compare prices and offers from multiple merchants. Using our service, travelers no longer have to search websites one by one to find the best deals and lowest rates. Once you find the supplier suitable for your needs, we link you through to the supplier website to book directly.

Loves it.

# 52 Bolero

It is going to be coooooold, so I'm thinking of either buying or making my own wedding bolero jacket. Actually it probably should be a jacket since I'll need long sleeves, but I'm kind of scared about attempting a long-sleeved project! My list of DIY stuff is up to 3 pages now *sigh*

# 51 oh gosh...

I am SO SICK of wedding stuff at the moment that I can't even think straight. I think I'm just hitting information overload and being overwhelmed at the same time. I haven't even done my 2nd cheesecake trial yet with the cream cheese icing! AND I'll be so busy with school(I'm full time again- can't afford to NOT graduate on time). barf...

# 50 Bridal Shower Invites

I am taking a rather large gamble because I'm designing *for free* to boost my etsy account to have at least *1* customer/feedback. Anyway, b/c this was rushed and I have to go to work right now, I won't send these off until Monday like I said. Whew... I hope Nadia likes it!

# 49 Instead of cranes...

"You don't have to limit it to cranes either. What about hearts or butterflies or even birds? If you don't want to have 1000 for the Japanese tradition, what about creating a heart for every day you and your fiance have been together? I think that would be super sweet. Is anyone planning on hanging paper cranes, or hearts, or something else at their wedding?"

# 48 Centerpiece2_Hanh

Hanh came to visit Mobile and I got to meet up with her yesterday to try on dresses- she gave me an awesome idea that I was very receptive towards considering how deadset I was on certain aspects of the decor. I said I had pinecones, branches, candles, fern, and moss to work with. I would prefer not to buy much for the pieces since the whole look is supposed to be organic and very natural.

This is what Hanh suggested:
Large glass bowl that sits about 4" high filled with water. In the middle of the bowl will be an island oasis covered with moss with one of my tall lovely branches nestled nicely in the center. Filled with natural stones, lit candles will be floating around the water in addition to having neon fish darting around. The bowl would be sitting on top of a bed moss surrounded by fern leavesm thus creating a lush, forest-concept for centerpiece. A bit complex but the idea is too lovely.

Objection: I am morally opposed to having live animals as decorative objects even though the idea of having live baby turtles in the bowls literally drives me insane!! I want them!!!

# 47 Aisle decor ... again

Going with the pine cone theme, the aisle could be lined with LARGE pinecones and the chairs can be loop-de-looped with real, beautiful ivy that I would snag right off the trees. Either that or intertwined with hemp so that the lines would be more rigid. I would then hang pinecone cuties stuffed with fern at the bottom on the ends of alternating chairs. Ground is full of pinestraw. HA! Found my ceremony decor. Also, the tree that would marry us would be dripping with either baby pinecones and/or white origami cranes. Uhm, how would that really match my decor? Whatev, the little birds are so cute!! I'll think about it later...

# 46 "FIND YOUR NUTS" Seating numbers

I almost cried when I saw this idea:

I am literally dying to see this go through! It would match our decor and whimsy. I would give complete credit to the creator of this idea. I would want to use the same concept except with a squirrel and hot glue real acorns to the popsicle sticks. The acorns would have the person's table number painted on it. "FIND YOUR NUTS"

tee hee heeeeeeeee

# 45 Japanese with fiance from Mobile

Hey, Chinese, Japanese, all the -nese!! Oh, and Thomas isn't from Mobile... btw... haha

# 44 Map of our crib

Spent quite a bit of time on this map to find out that I "don't really need to provide people one." HA! Whatev, any excuse to create dorky animals from scratch and for people to actually try to visit the wedding website.

# 43 dress

Holy crap holy crap my dress just came in just came in more oh dear oh dear oh dear.....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

# 42 Répondez s'il vous plaît

Répondez s'il vous plaît... I am currently designing our wedding invites- I actually have a few posts dedicated to it but decided to halt the drafts of them until you guys actually receive them in your sweet little mailbox! I am, however, willing to share a little bit of what my RSVP postcards will look like... that might give you a glimmer of an idea what Typography style I'm going for... or not. Still working on Illustrator versions of my little printed map that I want to include in our invite package. Holy smokes, I could make a shilling or two designing these for real couples since I'm into illustrating and designing. Anway, this is fun... SO!!

Here you go!

# 41

# 38 Tutorial: Fabric Appliques

I was inspired by a bird's feather- in fact, so much so I made each petal from scratch. My first tutorial- kind of nervous but I thought these would be cute on some bridesmaids!

1st: GATHER MATERIALS: 2 thicker fabrics(i.e. wool, cotton, upholstery fabrics), scissors, needle, thread, and felt for the backing.

2nd: CUT OUT FELT BACKING: this will be your base and general shape to work with. It can be round(like a flower) or tear drop shaped- whatever you prefer but the teardrop is one I'm most in love with because it conforms to your head shape. Cut 3.5" x 2.5"

3rd: CUT 1" long PETALS in your choice and color of fabric. Same tear drop shape.

4th LAYER AND LAYOUT THE PETALS FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP: that way you won't be able to see the stitching.

5th SEW: sew towards the top of the teardrop petal so that the pointy end can flare out nicely as opposed to being stuck on the side of your head.

6th SEW & FOLLOW step 5

7th FINISH UP: once you get to the top(the end), sew very small stiches towards the top to secure in place. Now add a little patch in the back so you can add a bobby pin or a safety pin to place where your heart desires. Preferably on the side of your hair!

8th WEAR IT PROUDLY!
Now add a little patch in the back so you can add a bobby pin or a safety pin to place where your heart desires. Preferably on the side of your hair!

TIME SPENT: about 1 to 1.5 hours

P*S* Hotglueing would probably work. Most of the time spent is on cutting each individual petal. 1/3 of the time went into sewing the applique. If you're the fast & easy type, go for it but it'll make the piece a bit stiffer and it'll lose its value because it's not "sewn" but hey, what ev. I would appreciate if you were to post this tutorial to reference me por favor! Have a great day!!

# 37 Fattening Up

Last week after we booked an appointment for the engagement shoot, I made a plan to work out everyday from Mon to Fri so that I could rock my newly toned arms and shoulders. Ha. Only did 3 days but considering I work out 2 times an entire year, I'm good to go! Anyway, clearly my get fit plan is waning because I get to FINALLY stay at home all day and NOT clean! We are currently remodeling/restructuring the house. We're putting away all the unused decorative objects and random things in these pink and blue plastic storage boxes. 4 hours on the computer doing nothing. Fantastic. Next: PAINT

I am so American! This is as fatty as I'll allow myself to conciously make: Grilled cheese, chicken, tomato sandwich on 2 slices of buttered white Bunny bread. Oh, make that 2. Have some Pepsi to wash it down(GROSS) but only because I never drink soda or buy it.

# 36 Tuxedo Dog!

HAHA! Terry mentioned to me the other night about walking Charlie, my long haired chihuahua, down the aisle. She suggested he wear a tuxedo. How flippin cute! Except of all the dogs in world, I would want my own Rottweiler Storm in the wedding wearing a veil. However, Storm's very, well, temperamental and doesn't like strangers. But the idea is very cute!

# 35 Loves me some Poladroid!! + guestbook idea

Oh my god this is exactly what I want for ALL of my pictures!! That dreamy, Max Wanger effect, aka the dreamy vintage feel. Loves it. I'm going to Photoshop them all! But then again, I love raw images too. Oh well, this is who I is!! Download Poladroid here!

Man I wish polaroids still exist- I really really wanted them for my guestbook. Oh well, I'm actually thinking of something better- blank pages for people to use and draw themselves next to! That's actually much cuter! Personally, I don't really think a lot of my family members would actually contribute in that manner but at least they should be inspired by the other drawings to possibly do one on their own!

# 34 Plan B- in case of rain

We have to consider the fact that it *might* rain on our wedding day. Not good considering EVERYTHING about the wedding is outdoors... in the cold! So whoever's not taking our wedding seriously because it's outdoor on our property(backyard/camping connoctations) and thinking we're doing so because it's more cost effective can love it. Having it out here actually costs *more* than having it at a regular church and restaurant venue combined. Here's why: we're renting the individualized tables, chairs, and buying all of our linens, silverware, and chinaware in addition to purchasing and making centerpieces. Oh, we also have to have a plan B as well: renting a tent is just plain ugly and counterproductive. What's the point in having an "outdoor" wedding when you're just going to be putting them under a tent anyway? You still have to decorate as if it's an indoor setting- not going to work.

Our plan B is to clean out and make space at FFIL's 1st story of his sweet, rustic home. Either that, or combine it with handmade canopies/tarps(white of course!) and take it from there. Which is one main reason for us have it here in Molino, FL- much less chance of rain! Anyway, I absolutely love our "venue"- so natural, beautiful, and it allows me to be extremely creative because we're not limited to what the church or other venue's restrictions. We can have whatever food we want, drinks, decor, music, style, etc. For the reward of creativity and meaning, I'd rather work 3x as hard to make this wedding truly personable and uniquely ours.

#33 Photo session

above: me taking a pic of Beethoven taking pics

Carry

Beach shots

So Beet. drove 2 hours into Pensacola to shoot M+C's wedding photos. After that, FH and I drove him to downtown Mobile in AL. He shot our engagement shoots(or he calls it the "prenup shoot"- tee hee, that's what they must call in in the Phillipines!).

The shots I thought were lovely and I've always dreamt of taking fashion/editorial styled shots. Thus, I wore my red satin bubble dress with my handmade fabric feather applique and had my hair wavy and long. I actually think engagement photos are totally unnecessary and cheesy but because B included in our package and I refered M+C to him, I figured, WHY NOT?! FH and I hardly have any photos of just us two other than your typical myspace shots and etc. I freaking love Max Wanger's photography style but am also aware that he uses some serious filters. Nonetheless, the vintage feel is lovely to me so I wanted to emulate the cutesy poses. As much as I really like B and think he'll do great at our wedding, I already know many of our engagement photos will be the posed photos I make fun of!

Being in downtown again was very nostalgic for me. I knew going to Bienville Square was a great idea but it didn't hit me until I stepped out onto the street. The entire week's forecast called for scattered T-Storms so VERY fortunately for us, it didn't rain but the sky was overcast. Normally overcast skies make me kind of sad but it provided a nice, nostalgic filter that was natural and appropriate for that older, vintage feel I wanted in the pics.

#32 Link for Outdoor Weddings

lovely. great ideas. http://greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html