Bali, I Just Can't Quit You

So. Another honeymoon preparation post. I've posted about swimsuits, skincare, and now you get to listen to me blab about hair removal.  Lucky, lucky you.

While this isn't a topic or practice to which I give much thought during the regular course of my boring life, the wedding has made my life *so* much more exciting and I can't help but want to take a little extra step in this area to prep for the honeymoon.  I want to be showing some soft, smooth, and non-furry baby bum skin in those swimsuits!

As with everything, this is an incredibly complex multi-layered issue.

First decision, to shave or to wax?

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I'm going to go with waxing, because while shaving makes sense on a regular basis, this is *special* right? I want to be smooooth....for a looooong time...

Then--legs, arms, underarms, pinky toe?  They wax just about everything now. I'm definitely getting my legs waxed, but what about my arms?

I am hairy for an Asian woman--no fair, gene gods! No fair!

While I don't have tufts and tufts of arm hair, the black, long, spindly hair against my pasty skin kinda stands out.  

Nevertheless, the thought of watching my arm hair grow back or continuing to wax my arms is not appealing, so I'm leaning towards "no" on this one. You are horrified. That's okay.

And then, there's the world of bikini waxing.  Oh the options! Bikini line, full bikini, Brazilian, French double loop with a somersault?  I admit, I know next to nothing about this fascinating topic. If you want some great info from the hive, check out this thread on the Weddingbee boards--veeerrry edgificational.

To help me further parse the different bikini waxing services, I checked out this little article, which had the following tidbits (all quoted from the article):

• Regular Bikini Wax: Removes the hair outside the panty line.
   
  
• Full Bikini Wax: Takes the sides of the bikini line deeper than a regular bikini wax, and can also include waxing some hair on top to make a more defined ‘triangle’ area, or trimming down the hair left shorter.
  
  
• French Bikini Wax: Takes all hair off the in the front (except a small strip) and continues to right before the back. It doesn't take hair off from the back like a Brazilian (see below).  [edit: I think there must be a typo in this, not my problem]
  
  
• Brazilian Bikini Wax: Takes all hair off the bikini line, front all the way to the back (yes by your bum). Sometimes a small strip or triangle is left in the front.

Do you have any preferences/recommendations for hair removal?

And for those who have not tried waxing before, I leave you with this image:

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Hehe. I'm just kidding. It won't be like that. I *promise*.

Bali, I am Still Coming For You

Bali, I'm very excited about you. And my swimsuit.  But not about your hangers-on.

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Ew. I am like a magnet for mosquito bites. I will get bitten to death while Kevin, in the same environment, will be bite free. Jerk. Just kidding. But really, I hate mosquitoes.

There are theories as to why this happens, including something about people like me emitting chemical compounds like uric acid/urea (great, I am *peeing* out of my pores), but no one knows for sure.

Unfortunately, Bali is full of these little f&*kers.  I kid you not that when I heard this, I seriously started to reconsider our honeymoon location.  But, anticipating the utter embarrassment I would feel explaining to people that I passed up, of all things, the opportunity to go to Bali due to, of all things, a fear of mosquito bites, I decided to find a different solution (people just don't understand my pain. heartless).

A frequent Bali traveler friend of mine (she studies Balinese music, why oh why didn't I specialize in Indonesian beach property law) recommended Avon Skin So Soft's Bug Guard.

Apparently this stuff is the bomb--effective, with a pleasant scent, and it comes with or without sunscreen. I myself will be going for the sunscreen-repellant combo, and in the disappearing purple color!

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I'm thinking about emptying 100+ tubes into a vat and just dunking myself in it every morning.

But that's not all--in the event that I don't want to lug around a bottle of this magic potion but still want to protect myself from the carnivores, I got a few of these bug repellent towelettes:

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And just for a little bit of fun, I picked me up one of these:

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The Avon Shea Butter Brown Sugar Body Scrub--I am attempting to exfoliate my skin to luminous, glowing and smooth perfection before the big trip. And since it's brown sugar-based, I can also give my arms a thorough licking after each shower. Yum! (I don't actually do this.)

Any skincare issues you are taking into consideration for your honeymoon?

Bali, I Am Coming For You

Now that the winter has definitely dragged on a bit too long, it's the perfect time to daydream about our Bali honeymoon and spend unreasonable amounts of time on the internet searching for goodies to fully prepare myself for the trip.  Because you can never be too prepared to relax, get massages, and eat and drink to your heart's content for 2 weeks.

So, how to be a Bali Boy Scout? (naturally I would be a Girl Scout but the b's were irresistible)

Swimsuits!  I have this bikini at home. 

I would try it on for you and post a pic of myself, but I don't want to burn your corneas. Instead, my pug "decided" to model it.

Look at me mommy! I'm so sexy!

Sadly, that is my one swimsuit. I'm pathetic. I had to cure that pathetic-ness. I looked at several recommended websites, including Everything But Water and Fig Leaves, but damn they can get expensive (particularly the former, on the latter there are deals).  Plus, I was having a hard time finding sizes for my small boobies ("SB").

Then there was the old standby, J. Crew. While not totally cheap-o, they have plenty of styles, colors, and most importantly, sizes (see SB comment above).  I am paranoid that anything strapless would fall right off of me because of, again, the SB problem, so I like to have a strap. Here's what I found:

Lido halter, $44

 

Glamour bikini bottom, $38

And just in case you need more of a visual, here is a woman who is much taller, skinnier, and well-endowed than I am (that isn't saying much. again, see SB comment above):

 

You're pretty

(ignore the bottom)

Are you purchasing any wardrobe items to look HOT on your honeymoon?

DIY Stress

It's March.

Twenty months after we became engaged, I find myself at the beginning of the month that always seemed sooo far away. And now it's March. 2010 (the year that also seemed sooo far away).

I know that in reality, my to-do list is manageable.  I believe there is an inevitable craziness that occurs the last few weeks preceding the wedding.  But I know what we have to do and it's all, well, doable.

Right?

Regardless of my attempt to have "perspective", the flutters of anxiety have begun and persist (and it only *just* became March).  I just mentioned that I have my to-do list, and that with the immense help of my sister and others, we will get things done--so why the flutters?

Because.

What if it's not a complete to-do list? We all forget something. And what if things that seem simple now end up being a major fiasco to complete? What about all the potential roadblocks and problems?

I am. Worrying about hypotheticals that I don't need to worry about.

I am. Creating a certain amount of stress for myself because it's "March".

I am. Generating anxiety because I feel like I *should* be panicking or doing something, because if I'm not, clearly I am missing the boat and the wedding will go up in flames.

I am. Getting lost in the fact that there are a myriad of moving parts that each require a list of details to be meddled with, instead of focusing on the fact that all the tasks are manageable.

I am. Writing this because I need to get it off my chest and it makes me see how ridiculous my self-created stress is.

Thanks, hive.

Any of you feel/felt the same way a few weeks before your wedding?

On the Way to the Hair Salon...

...I must have lost a few brain cells.


Remember the hairstyle I wanted? 

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(Mrs. Coconut)

Remember my hair trial?  Here was the finished product.

I really liked it, but could have done without so many curls, which was due my long, long, long hair:

Keep in mind my hair is curled in the above picture, so it was a few inches longer when straight.  At the time, my hair/makeup artist, Aimee Lam, gently asked whether I *always* kept my hair that long--as if to say please, hon, chill on the Rapunzel.

I figured suuure, I have *tons* of hair to spare.  So a couple of weeks ago I went in for a haircut. And I'm not sure where my usual fear-of-change and risk-averse personality went, but I asked the stylist to lop off a good chunk.  No fear!

Not pleased with myself.

While not shockingly short, I'm concerned that it's too short to achieve the curled low updo that I want.

So on my way back from the salon, after having lost said previous brain cells, I then started to lose perspective.  At that point, it wasn't even a matter of whether my hair could physically be formed into the above hairstyle (because looking at it now, it's not *that* short).  I was absolutely convinced that I had ruined my chances of achieving my beloved hairstyle and kicked myself for having gotten such a short haircut so close to the wedding.

Eventually, Kevin injected a little sense back into me by saying: "Honey you're going to look beautiful no matter what, this isn't something you have to worry about." (two brownie points, maybe even three, for that man!)

Whether I can or cannot get the hairstyle, psychologically this is a lesson for me to "let go". I wanted a particular hairstyle. I may not get it.  But Kevin is right.  I've hired a hair/makeup artist who is uber talented and whom I love, who will do an amazing job in making me up all pretty with or without this hairstyle. Right? I mean, who freakin' fixates on a HAIR STYLE??

Let go, let flow. (Of course, I say this after I asked our local vitamin peddler whether prenatal vitamins would help my hair grow faster in a month. He looked at me funny.)

Anyone else make a few "oops" before the wedding?  Anyone need a little jolt back into reality that it's okay if you don't get what you originally envisioned?

The Key

Let me share with you the #1 key to the Pugs' happy relationship.

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You think I kid. But I don't. The #1 key to harmony* in my and Kevin's relationship is apartment cleanliness.

I have always felt a sense of satisfaction and peace at maintaining a clean, tidy home. I love the feeling after I vaccuum and polish the floors, clear and store the clutter, scrub down the bathroom and kitchen, and very importantly, wash all the dishes in the sink.  Granted sometimes I would go embarrassingly long in between cleanings, but at least keeping the place clutter and grossness-free has always been a priority.

Now, when Kevin moved in, by far the most obvious problem we had adjusting to each other was our *drastically* different approaches to cleanliness.

It was war royale.  For example, I can't stand a sink full of dirty dishes.  He admits that this does not bother him (horrors). 

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(oddly, these look like clean dishes placed in a sink, but point is that a sink full of dishes drives me nuts)

I like to put my clothes away.  He likes to use his clothes as floor covering.  I like vacuuming up after our pugs.  I don't think he realizes that they shed.  It started to feel like this:

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It's not that Kevin doesn't appreciate the cleaning that I do--it's simply nowhere on his radar that something is messy.  I think he's missing some kind of brain chip (I'm sure he would say the same about me).  Things that I consider gross and unbearable don't bother him in the least, and most of the time he's not even conscious of it.  

I tried backing off, he tried helping out more--it worked to a certain extent, but there was still a significant amount of tension.  After one fight too many, Kevin suggested hiring a housekeeper.  I balked. I thought it was indulgent, unnecessary, and a sign of laziness.  I told him that I had time to clean and was perfectly capable of doing so.  In perhaps one of the wisest moments that Kevin has had, he responded:

"Mina, it's not whether or not you have time to clean and can do it, it's a matter of how you'll feel about me after you do it."

He was so right. No matter how much I understood that he would never be Mr. Clean, I also understood that I would never, ever be the type of person to do all the cleaning for someone else and not resent it.

So we hired A to clean the apartment, and I am absolutely in love with not only the wonders she works upon our apartment, but also with how she has benefited our relationship.  It's something that we don't have to argue about (much).  I still do most of the housekeeping in between the times that A comes, but Kevin has his own chores (taking out trash and recyclying, walking the dogs multiple times a day, etc.). 

Anything you did for your relationship that has brought significant peace?

*I say this is jest. Of course there are other things that make our relationship go 'round. I mean, we do all sorts of things together, like watch TV and surf the internet side by side.

You Can't Resist the Artichoke

Yes, more artichoke.  If you commented on the previous post, do it again here.  

I know some of you were doubters about my beloved artichoke--Miss Rainbow, I am talking to you. Let me quickly show you how it played out.

My sister and I Gocco'd the invitations a few months ago, and I present to you, Artichoke Invitation Suite:

 

Becoming a better photographer is next on my list after becoming Gocco god.

And here is the suite in pieces:

Main invitation

Schedule of Events 

 

RSVP card

While I like RSVP cards that are extremely simple, the hotel needed to know in advance how many guests would be eating which dish, or else they were going to charge us, like, a million dollars.  Also, we needed a head count for the other weekend events for planning purposes.

Do I love them? Yes. Are they perfect? Not quite.  Could I have just sent this image to an invitation designer/printer and been on my merry way? Well yes, I guess so--but despite the effort of this DIY project, it meant a lot to me to make my own invitations.  Maybe because I'm not crafty in any other aspect, I thought that this would be a great opportunity to give a personal touch to a very important aspect of the wedding.  

My DIY skills are now officially spent. 

Were you happy with the way your invitations turned out?  If you made them yourself, was it worth it?