Bring the Thunder - Vegas Part 2

Recap -Thursday - May 22nd

Some little girls dream about their big white wedding. Little Wendy dreamed about her raucous Bachelorette Party in Vegas. Part of her dream was fulfilled by her Maid of Honor Janice who sent over "exotic dancers". She also wanted a day to hang out with her friends. We spent a majority of the day recovering from the previous night's drinking and luxuriating by the pool.

The dancers that Janice sent were an appetizer to the main course. The other part of Wendy's dream was to see Thunder from Down Under. She was so determined to go that she paid for everyone's tickets to ensure we all went. For years, I had made fun of the show and refused to watch. I stand corrected. It wasn't as cheesy as I expected and all the guys were incredibly hot. The best part is that Wendy got called up onto the stage for part of the performance. It was hilarious and quite memorable. Any time the phrase "Put your hands on my bum" can be used in a performance, it's worth the price of admission. Needless to say, we had a good time. Sorry kids, I have no photos from the show. No photography allowed:(

On the way to dinner before the show. (L-R)
Me, Juliana, Wendy, Mike, Jordana, Mike, & Jason

Our Happy Bachelorette before the show

In case you didn't already know, we are on our way to "Thunder From Down Under"

Wendy with some of Lior's relatives and family that were visiting from Israel

Party Masks(?!) courtesy of Lior's Sister-In-Law

More Party Mask Madness

Jason and Mike want to know what the big deal is with tiaras.

SATC

I got carried away last night. I went to see the movie last night with Jordana and a few of her other friends. I really enjoyed it. Then again, I'm a fan.

My only disappointment is they had a few technical difficulties like boom mics showing up in scenes and lightboxes where they're not supposed to be. I guess that's what you get when you film a movie in the middle of a writer's strike... shoddy below-the-line work.

Completed Projects

I received an email yesterday from Ali's mom. She thanked me for my help and graciously sent me some teaser pics to see how my design projects looked in her event setup.

Without further ado, here are the photos she sent me.

The escort cards look stunning all lined up.


Table Numbers with Candy Apple Favors


Close-up of the the Punny Label Ali had me design for her apples

Vegas Baby, Vegas - A recap

Let me start this post off by saying that I am not a "Vegas Girl". Typically, when someone says "Let's go to Vegas!", I feign ignorance and pretend that I didn't even hear them. Don't get me wrong. I am not anti-Vegas or a prude. In my 20s, I partied in Vegas like the rest. I have many hazy memories of my past trips and the debauchery I participated in.

My last trip to Vegas completely burned me out. Three years ago, Cicely and Gary got married at the Monte Carlo. We were there for 4 days. I shared a room with Cicely's other friends who I had not met previously. Let's just say, it was a colorful experience. Between running around helping Cicely and Gary prep for their wedding and my roomies' drunken ridiculousness, I lost my love for Vegas. This is not to say that the trip did not have its finer points. I loved being there for my best friend's wedding and the intimate dinner reception that followed. However, I did not enjoy being treated like a big nerd by Cicely's other party-loving friends. On the plane back to L.A., I swore I would probably never return.

Flash forward to a few months ago, Wendy invited me to join her Bachelorette Party in Las Vegas. I accepted her invitation with the idea that she wasn't completely serious. After all, who invites someone they just became friends with to Vegas? I had a moment of panic when I found out that she was serious. Wendy has become such a dear friend to me that I decided to just keep an open mind and go.

The Mini-Van Group (L-R)
Me, Wendy, Mike R., Suzi, Jordana, & Mike H.

Wendy rented a mini-van and 6 of us departed L.A. for Las Vegas. The car trip flew by. We spent the entire trip chatting incessantly. We arrived at Mandalay Bay Hotel at 4:30. Wendy had reserved a suite for all of us to stay in.

Photo of the Vista Suite from Mandalay Bay Website

View of the Las Vegas Strip from our suite.

We had dinner with Wendy's fiance Lior and his family and friends. We met up at the Grand Lux Cafe in the Venetian. There were 22 people at our table!

Group photo at the Grand Lux Cafe

After dinner, we retreated back to our suite to get the party started. On the way back, we stopped by a liquor store to stock up our bar at the suite.

Wendy showing off her bachelorette necklace.

Around 12:30 there was a knock on the door. Gee... I wonder who it was.
Wendy: I didn't realize we were making that much noise.
Guy at the door: I guess I'll have to come in and check it out....
As you guess it, the guy at the door wasn't who he said he was. A few minutes later "back-up" arrived.

Here is a hint as to what they actually do for a living.

There are other photos, but this is all I'm going to show. Let's just say they were very entertaining. It was more comedy than anything else. All of this happened on our first day.

Design Project Recap

I'm going to try to blog in order. So bear with me.

This is Aileen & Jo.

Their wedding was this past Saturday. Many moons ag0, Aileen and I carpooled to our first knot GTG together. We even had the same wedding coordinator. After the disaster I had with said coordinator, she hired someone far more capable.

A few weeks ago, Aileen contacted me to create menus and programs. Like Ali and Bryan, Aileen and Jo had existing wedding stationery that I had to match. Here is what their existing stationery looked like.

Here is what I created to match. Each program was designed and hand assembled. It got a bit hectic and I enlisted Rob to help with the assembly process. Who knew my hubby was so handy with a hole puncher?

Programs

Front
*photo has been altered for client privacy

Page 1
*photo has been altered for client privacy

Page 2

Page 3
*photo has been altered for client privacy

I believe Aileen and Jo were pleased with the finish products. I can't wait to see their pro pics.

Entries to come

Last week was one of the most hectic weeks of my life. I was buried in design work, packed my house up for fumigation, had a Bachelorette Party in Vegas, and a wedding yesterday. I am pooped.

Now, I have to unpack my house and see if my laptop has bit the big one:( Once I'm done with all of that I'm Daniella's, Jenny's and Frances' design slave. Who knew that one week could be so exhausting?

Another gift not on the registry

These are my friends Ali & Bryan. They are Ali and Bryan of Ragtime fame.
Ali is part of the monthly diner's club (Non-knot GTG). Her wedding is the weekend. Coincidentally, the same day as Wendy's. As a wedding gift, I offered to create her escort cards and table numbers. It was a bit of a challenge because they had a monogram that a friend of theirs had designed.

My instructions were to create something modern and traditional AND match their existing monogram. This is what I came up with.

Escort Cards

Table Number & Escort Cards

The photos do not give really give a true impression of the cards. Because this project was a gift, I used some really great papers. Names were printed on Quartz Stardream and adhered to Blush Luxe Cardstock. I had a lot of fun creating these. Ali's wedding colors are very similar to my own.

From the reaction I got when I delivered these, they both really liked the finished product. They're so sweet. They generously gave me a giftcard to CPK. It was not necessary. Although, it is much appreciated. I thank them as does Rob - my perpetually hungry hubby.

More design goodness to come. Stay tuned!

Tenting?!

In a few days, our little rental shoebox will look like this.My landlord has decided that we all need termite fumigation. They live in the front house and have found termites. While I appreciate what they're trying to do, I can't help but be annoyed. It's Sunday and we need to be out of our house by Tuesday night through Friday. I'm in the middle of a gazillion design projects and will be leaving for Vegas on Wednesday. Now, in the middle of working, we have to pack up things that won't survive the tenting. Grrr.... why don't some people have a sense of timing?! Sorry, I needed to get this off of my chest. Pretty pictures of happy design projects will be posted shortly.

100 and 1 degree!

I got up bright and early for my cousin Jasmine's graduation. I was told the ceremony started at 8AM. In order to get to the university at a relatively decent time, I had to get up at 6AM. This is a huge feat because I have really become accustomed to my lady of leisure status. These days 9 o'clock is early. Because I am supportive Cousin Anne, I got ready and hauled myself out to Fullerton.

I found out once I got there that I probably could have gotten a few more Zzzz. Jasmine wasn't scheduled to walk across a stage until 10AM. Oh well. I took the time to catch up with my other cousins Janine & Jovan. It was miserably hot. At peak, it was about 100 degrees with minimal shade.

Some people brought umbrellas for shade. I wish I had.

While others got REALLY creative and made their own hats

After baking in the sun for a few hours, Jasmine finally walked across the stage and was acknowledged for her undergraduate degree in psychology.


Jasmine graduated cum laude with a Bachelor's of Art degree in Psychology.

Jasmine with her proud parents - my Uncle Bo & Aunt Jean

Fred (Jasmine's friend) & Jasmine

Group Photo with the very hot & tired grad.
(L-R) Aunt Jean, Me, Jasmine, Janine, Jovan, Bella, and Fred

After it was all said and done, this is what I had to show for it.
SUNBURN! I had to take a picture of this because I only burn once every 15 years. I am usually fanatical about sunblock. For those who have outdoor graduations to attend, don forget the sunblock!