February 2012
3 posts
A Third Valentine's and Anniversary
It is so easy to get caught up in the trivial matters and concerns of every day life, but it is far more important to stay grounded and remain thankful. Jamie and I have gone through a rough couple of weeks, fatigued from work and recent heartaches, and have not put much time or effort into spending special time with one another. How nice it was to go on an impromptu date for sushi and a...
January 2012
13 posts
6 tags
Synthetic's "Disposable" App
From the creators of Hipstamatic, comes yet another lo-fi photography app… But this one introduces a couple of elements that I had never seen before. First, you must finish shooting all 24 exposures before you are able to see the final shots. Secondly, it introduces a social aspect. After choosing a camera, the app allows you to invite other Disposable users to take pictures on...
4 tags
Cookie Adventure: Domo Kun TKOs
Today marks our second cookie adventure in the geek category. Having come across this amazing tutorial while researching cookie ideas, we knew right away that we had to try this ourselves. The result: a delicious balance of salty and sweet flavors, all in an adorable Domo sandwich-cookie form.
And now, for a little more fun:
"Social Aesthetic"
Interesting article in which Douglas Brundage discusses the trending shift in social media from data-heavy arenas towards highly visual alternatives. Applications such as Tumblr and Instagram offer a platform by which “Instabloggers” can allocate visually driven content across networks, thereby creating a realm in which the users’ inner artist remains engaged.
Read the full...
6 tags
Spaghettini Brunch - Seal Beach, CA
The buffet.
Chicken and waffles.
Creme brule and butterscotch pudding. Couldn’t decide on one, so yeah…
Time for an afternoon nap.
4 tags
5 tags
Swoon-Worthy Valentine's Gifts
If you anything are like me, than you probably take extreme pride in the amount of thought and effort you put into your gift-giving process. Though the task of finding that perfect gift becomes a bit more challenging with the passing of each and every occasion, a themed holiday such as Valentine’s Day eases the hunt for unique presents.
I’ve been swooning over the following items for...
3 tags
Some Friday Inspiration
This has been an eventful week for us, as well as for many people we know. The anniversary of friends’ deaths, changes in the workplace, saying goodbye as another friend moves on to a new chapter of her life, and the joyful news of a baby on the way. Life has an interesting way of dealing cards; these images that were originally round up over at one of our favorite...
4 tags
Learning to Code →
In efforts to expand my technical skill set and give myself more creative tools, I’ve joined Code Year. Every Monday, I will be receiving an email with a lesson in coding, starting from the top. As somebody with limited coding experience, I am excited to eventually begin to measure my progress.
Initially, I thought this would just be some weekly email newsletter. After completing the first...
11 tags
5 tags
Peach Cupcakes + Brown Sugar Frosting
Although its mid-January and far from the peak of California’s peach season, I couldn’t help but try out this Smitten Kitchen recipe for peach cupcakes. Peaches are one of my favorite fruits on account of its color, texture, and most of all, its flavor! Only makes sense to put it in a cupcake, right? Thank you, Smitten, for this delicious recipe. She wasn’t lying when...
9 tags
"The San Tana Supper Club"
Last night’s potluck was a chance to reconnect with a few dear friends (and some dear margaritas) that we haven’t seen for quite some time now. The Host’s theme choice for the evening: Mexcian food! We wanted to bring a dish inspired by what we believe to be the best food truck in town - The Lime Truck! We’ve sung their praises aplenty throughout this blog, and in...
6 tags
September 2011
4 posts
Thank you's
Finally had a chance to send some follow up letters to our vendors and were reminded of how lucky we were to have worked with such talented folks! We still have some friendor postings in store for the near future, but just another quick shout out to some amazing people, please take the time to click their names for more info!:
Cindy Babuscio - floral design
Mike Ladia - photography
Carlo and...
Lots of changes since we’ve been back… Just started my new position at 530medialab (thanks Arthur and Ryan) and couldn’t be more excited. ‘Change’ seems to be a recurring theme this year for us, both at home and in the workplace. Life has been good, and change can be great. On that note, I’m very excited to see what the future holds for us. We’ve...
August 2011
7 posts
2 tags
Slideshow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dUjcsCCt28U
The slideshow we played for our wedding reception on August 26th, 2011 at Smog Shoppe in Culver City, CA.
4 tags
WatchI am so touched by the thoughtfulness and talent behind this video, shot and edited in the same day. Thank you Carlo and Anna Cruz.
3 tags
“Friendor” spotlight: Mike Ladia
One of the most critical decisions to make when planning a wedding is choosing a photographer. This decision was a painless one for us because we were fortunate enough to be connected to Mike Ladia.
I’ve worked with Mike for a year now at Apple, and knew that we could trust the professionalism and skill Mike brings to his photography. Beyond being an amazing photographer, Mike is a...
4 tags
4 tags
"Friendor" spotlight: Skyy Grant
Manning the turntables on the night of our wedding will be our good friend, Skyy Grant. Armed with his weapon of choice, the Numark NS7 and 17” Macbook Pro (pictured below), Skyy will be keeping the party alive until the end of the night.
In addition to being a beat-mixing extraordinaire, Skyy is also an incredible music producer, recording engineer, songwriter, musician, and above all,...
3 tags
July 2011
4 posts
4 tags
Congrats to The Lime Truck
Photo Credit: The Food Network
Congratulations to our caterers, The Lime Truck, on their upcoming participation in The Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race, premiering just before the wedding!!
These guys are easy going and down to earth, but are definitely serious about their work and passionate about providing great food.
Check out Daniel and his team in their promo video,...
3 tags
"Friendor" spotlight: Carlo Cruz
We are SO fortunate to have an amazing network of talented family and friends who have so kindly offered to help us with the wedding. These friend-vendors (friendors, if you will) have helped to make this wedding possible. We would like to acknowledge their talents.
First up for our friendor spotlight is Mr. Carlo Cruz, Aimee’s cousin-in-law.
Carlo is a multi-talented artist, family...
3 tags
Inspirations Board
With the wedding less than two months away, it is honestly quite difficult to remain steady and avoid getting sucked into all the madness that accompanies planning a major event. In order to keep calm, all we have to do is focus on how absolutely fortunate we are to have found happiness in one another.
Reflecting back on when we first became engaged, the time since then has just flown by, but...
2 tags
Read Me!
In keeping with the eco friendly philosophy of our venue, we tried to stick with products made from renewable resources such as bamboo, cork, and bioplastics made from vegetable starch. Although there is definitely much, much more we could do to minimize our environmental impact, researching these products has been a reminder of how a little more effort could make such a difference. I’m...
June 2011
6 posts
2 tags
You are Invited...
Our wedding invitations, designed by us, arrived last week and we couldn’t be happier with the results.
Remember to RSVP by July 20th!
*FYI: Compared to the process of making paper, it takes less wood to make a product out of real wood veneer than it does regular paper.
PS. Check out these neat “Go-Green” stamps:
http://www.usps.com/green/gogreenstamps.htm
If...
Venice and Santa Monica
Following a great day of seeing family and friends for our wedding shower, Aimee and I had the honor of spending the day with our friends Guillermo (a groomsman) and Derrick (Guillermo’s boyfriend).
We started off with brunch at Starling Diner in Long Beach on 3rd St. in Belmont. From there we headed over to walk the Venice Beach boardwalk.
Our next stop was visiting Arthur (also a...
4 tags
A Shower for the Bride & Groom
Today our amazing friend and my maid of honor, Kathleen, hosted a co-ed bridal shower for us at her family’s beautiful home. With the help of the bridesmaids and Kathleen’s wonderful family, Kat prepared a travel-themed event that served as a type of “mixer” for both sides of the family and the entire bridal party to meet and greet. Since the wedding day is sure to...
2 tags
5 tags
May 2011
1 post
3 tags
Bridal Party Raffle
So, as we love and cherish all members of our bridal party equally, we have found ourselves in a little dilemma — how to arrange partners and in what order?
After considering our options, we decided to randomly draw numbers out of a hat. When all else fails, leave it to chance!!
-J&A
April 2011
2 posts
1 tag
Brunch
I just got back from being at training for 3 weeks in Cupertino, and we celebrated with brunch at Cafe Neo on 4th St. in Long Beach. The food was great and the weather was perfect for outdoor dining. After brunch, we did a bit of apartment hunting in Belmont Shore. After going home and catching up on 3 weeks of missed tv shows, we finished things off with Sushi at Sushi Studio. I...
5 tags
The Lime Truck
Having come to the realization that our guest list was continuing to grow and conversely, our budget shrinking, we’ve had to reevaluate our priorities and consider areas of possible cost cuts. Although we mutually agree that the dinner menu is as much a star of the show as the newlywed couple, we realized that even if we cannot afford to hire a traditional catering company, that certainly...
December 2010
1 post
1 tag
Smog Shoppe
We are so excited to have the opportunity to share our wedding with the people we love at a venue we are crazy about! Our venue hunting days were much like those of our apartment; we settled with the first option we visited in person. Some may call that spontaneity irresponsible, but I guess we just count ourselves lucky in that we are able to spot something special once we see it =).
We...
November 2010
1 post
3 tags
New York Engagement
This blog is intended to document daily happenings in our lives. What better starting point then our vacation to the East Coast! Our trip to New York was more than a celebratory vacation for our recent graduation — it ended up being a life-changing experience after we got engaged. New York will always hold a special place in our hearts.
LOTS and lots of walking…
The...