Red hot bride - classybride3

Okay I’ve got a sweet tooth, so what? Can’t a girl be allowed to love her candies and chocolates and ice cream? My mom was teasing me over my licking a heavenly ice cream cone last night after dinner and said I’ll put on weight if I don’t watch what I eat. But here’s the twist: I wasn’t licking an ice cream cone at all! Well it’s still ice cream but it’s actually GELATO, an Italian ice cream and the perfect alternative to conventional ice cream simply because it contains less fat and is more flavorful, IMHO.

Which brings me to the topic of dessert during the wedding reception. I knew I wanted ice cream at my wedding but after discovering gelato, I’ve decided to serve the healthier alternative instead. I fired up Google and found out that while the idea of ice cream buffets at weddings are not exactly uncommon, there is only a handful of brides that are not averse to serving gelato at their wedding. Perhaps they are afraid people won’t take to the less fattening ice cream version? Hmm, maybe but gelato is OH-SO-HEAVENLY once you taste it!

I stumbled upon a gelato company called Piccolo Grande and they seemed like the perfect gelato people but too bad, they are located in Canada, and I am pretty sure they won’t FLY the gelato over here. So I found other companies that offer gelato catering. For a one-time fee of $400-500, we’ll get a gelato cart and a bottomless supply of gelato complete with a uniformed attendant to serve everyone. We also get to decide the flavors! Oh boy. But the downside is that we can only choose eight different flavors and I am torn between the yummy variety of gelato, sherbet and sorbet.

I was initially confused over the similarity between a sorbet and sherbet, so in case you’re wondering, the differences between them are:

Sherbet: made with a combination of water, sugar, and fruit juice or fruit pulp. Added with a tiny amount of milk or cream for a smoother texture before freezing.

Sorbet: just like sherbet but minus the dairy content, may be icy instead of creamy smooth.

Shawn’s not an ice cream person but he has okay-ed the gelato cart affair! Hurray! I think he secretly likes gelato now!

”So have you chosen your shoes yet?” My bridesmaid asked me this morning. I stared at her with a blank look and she instantly knew that I was putting this subject off till the last minute. “You cannot possibly delay this till the eleventh hour, Lara!” She chided me and plonked down a dozen or so bridal magazines under my nose and begged me to choose a style that I like.

Honestly shoes aren’t really my expertise. I am not very modelesque and would want to wear stilettos to my wedding but I was afraid to admit that I am also a clumsy person by nature. I don’t want to trip over my train or veil or anything else that stood in between me and my groom on the way to the altar. If it happened before on a live broadcast of Miss Universe (trust me it did!) then it will be bad if it happened to me on my wedding day!

After perusing the magazines together, I have compiled a little list of what I want my wedding shoes to be:

1. Heel size
I finally decided against fancy stilettos. Yes I look good standing up tall but I won’t be if I were to fall flat on my face. During the rare times that I actually wore stilettos, I admit that comfort was not prioritized and as a result my heels and toes hurt like hell! So the verdict is I’ll be choosing my wedding shoes with kitten heels.

2. Toe style
Wow I didn’t know this is an important aspect, thanks Julie (that’s my bridesmaid). I definitely want an open-toed style to show off my beautiful pedicure. =)

3. Shoe fabric
When it comes to fabric, I’m going to be spoilt for choice! There are so many types of fabric that I find it hard to choose just one. I’m actually leaning towards silk because it’s oh so soft and luxurious! There are other choices too: satin, velvet and lace (lots of brides favor lace because it complements their gowns perfectly!) but I don’t really like the latter because it’d be difficult to pair it with an outfit should I want to wear it again. OR I could go with a totally contrasting, eye catching look and wear leather shoes! He he.

Shawn has gotten me an uber nice wedding present! It came as a surprise one day as we were unpacking our grocery bags. At the bottom of one bag, beneath all that organic tomatoes and eggs, was this medium sized boxed, inconspicuously wrapped with brown paper. I asked him what was the box all about, and he simply told me it was for me to open and find out. =) Open it I did, and to my delight I found the little Prada bag I’ve always wanted but was too stingy to buy, lol. I thanked him profusely and secretly vowed to get him a present too!

I racked my brain day and night for the ideal gift when suddenly it hit me: By golly, I’m going to get him an XBOX 360! Shawn owns a Sony PS3 and a Nintendo Wii (he’s nuts about video games), and the only thing he does not have is an XBOX 360. So I went over to a local game store and got him the latest bundle with 60GB hard drive and a couple of games. While there, I found tons of nice accessories and even saw a PINK wireless controller which I included in my purchases! I love pink stuff and how appropriate it is to buy that controller because that meant I can actually play with him occasionally. Shawn was always rattling on and on about how he wishes I play video games too just like the “other guys’ girlfriends”.

Armed with the console, pink controller and games like GTA IV, Fable 2, Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead, I presented Shawn with the package right after dinner last night and he was pleased as punch! He was even happier when I told him that I won’t mind joining him for a gaming session or two sometimes. And I did mean it. We played Left 4 Dead, a cool zombie shoot-em-up game which I enjoyed immensely. I found out that it was pretty easy to master the controls after all. It was very intuitive and easy to manage!

Have you ever watched a movie with your boyfriend and have its soundtracks stuck in your head for weeks on end before you decide that “This is it, this is our song!” Well in the case of Shawn and I as a couple, we watched Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s “50 First Dates” and never quite gotten over how beautiful the movie was. We loved the movie so much, we actually went to the movies every night for one week straight just to watch it over and over again!

Most particularly, we love the song “Somewhere over the rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole just because it was so relaxing and endearing. I feel exactly the same way whenever I am with Shawn. He makes me feel relaxed and completely at ease with myself as well as the world. He makes me feel like nothing could ever go wrong as long as he is by my side.

Then there’s the song “Wouldn’t it be nice” by the Beach Boys. It’s bright and cheery and Shawn told me that the song suits me to a ‘T’ because that is how I am – bright and always cheerful. =)

Finally, we agreed on a single song that’s to be played right after we are officially man and wife – “I want to grow old with you” sung by Adam Sandler in his movie “The Wedding Planner”. There was a little history behind this. During our early courtship when we were far apart (we were in a long distance relationship before we moved closer to each other) Shawn actually sent me an MP3 of this song. It sat in my Inbox, with no other words accompanying it. I heard the song and immediately fell in love with its whimsical tune and meaningful lyrics, as well as the sender – Shawn.

I particularly love this verse:

“So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink
Put you to bed when you’ve had too much to drink
Oh I could be the man that grows old with you
I wanna grow old with you.”

Hey everyone, guess where I am right now? DISNEY WORLD! I am taking a break between exploring this glorious place and have got a little spare time before dinner so I thought I’d get my trusty laptop out and blog about this.

I am SO excited! The whole trip has been a super duper nice surprise from Shawn. He knew that as the wedding planning and preparations continued in full gear, my tempers began to fray at the edges and was constantly jumpy be it morning, noon or night.

Then yesterday after dinner, instead of driving us back home like he always did, he drove us to the airport. I was perplexed and in one of my “moods” as usual. I asked him where are we going, and if he is heading to the airport to pick up someone he knew, but he just kept quiet. After parking our car, he beckoned me to get out. Once we reached the airport terminals, he handed me my passport with a ticket to Florida! Shocked beyond words, I asked him why is he bringing us to Florida, and he told me to look under that ticket. Sure enough I did and found tickets to DISNEY WORLD!

OMG. I was like “Shawn, oh my God why are you doing this?” with tears in my eyes. He took my hands and guided me through the departure gates where our plane was already waiting. “Because I love you” was all he said. I cried all the way to the plane, lol.

When we were seated and I’ve had a glass of orange juice to calm myself down, Shawn told me that it was a stroke of luck that he has gotten the tickets from a company lucky draw. He added that even if he had to pay for the tickets, he’d still take me here because he knew that I was all stressed out as a result of the wedding preparations.

Sigh. Where would I be without him? =)