Happy Thanksgiving!

Wherever you are and whatever you do, be thankful. It’s humbling and makes those around you feel loved.

Our thanks to you on this wonderful day. Happy Thanksgiving!

Too Many Choices

I’m starting to feel a lot like I did when I was wedding planning. Letterpress? Etsy? DIY? Fondant? Buttercream? Pie? Vintage? Modern? Strapless? Open bar? Beer and Wine? There is such a thing as too many goddamn choices.

I reminisced a little tonight with a Nashvillian about the wedding between me and The Candyman.It was fun to talk to someone about my old town, someone who was familiar with our church and our reception venue.

We talked about vendors and why I absolutely adored my photographer and the bakery who made our scrumptious cakes.

After the lovely trip down memory lane, I started to get that little tingle of anxiety; the anxiety that comes from making the right decision, decisions that seem impossible to make. At some point, you just gotta choose and make it work.

I’m kind of that way with our house right now. There are so many decisions to make and too many choices. Sometimes there aren’t enough choices, but most times there are too many.

Case and point? Mirror frames. I have a bathroom mirror that is 77-7/8” long and 24 “ high. To get it framed as one would a picture would be psychotically expensive. So, I found this website called Mirror Mates. It’s a much cheaper and easier alternative to framing a mirror than actually framing it.

I ordered some samples and when they arrived, I realized they were a local company! I wanted more samples so swung by to pick them up. More samples = more choices. Probably not a good thing at this point.

I did find out that Mirror Mates is having a Black Monday sale – 25% off! So if you need a custom bathroom mirror, then hop to.

Me? I’m still trying to figure out what the hell I’m going to do.

That’s right. NINE different frame options. Seven different shapes and six different color options. The Candyman narrowed it down to two in less than thirty seconds. Me? I’m still trying to figure it out.

Not surprising. I only tried on over 100 wedding dresses.

*Sigh*

P.S. Don't forget that I'm going to have a BLACK FRIDAY sale at my Etsy shop!

Black Friday at TruLu Couture!

I think I’m gonna have myself a Black Friday sale. I think it’s time. I’m kinda sick at looking at some of my merchandise. It’s time for it to go and go at good prices. Probably at cost.

What do you think about that?

I think it will make room both in my studio, which is still in a state of total disorganization, and make room in my mind for creativity to flow. You feel me?

These are some of the things I want to sell, fo sho.

         

     

Or maybe I should auction them off one by one here?

Nah. Lame idea.

Let me know what you think. Check out some of the prices at TruLu Couture and let me know what pieces you want to see on sale the most!

Maybe someone might win something! I  mean it’s been like, forever since I’ve done a giveaway.

107 CARATS

Let’s catch up, OK?

I’m back from China.

And I even have a teeny bit of wedding stuff. Check it…

I went out to dinner one night in Hong Kong and I walked through the wedding district and found a gown that only the very cruelest of brides would make their ladies wear. But then again, everything is fair game in The Orient.

Sequined patchwork chiffon anyone?

Stone encrusted…something. Not even sure what to call this except “wrong.”

Bowtiful Bridal Barbie

Later that night we visited OZONE, the highest bar in the world. It’s located on the 118th floor of the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong. Talk about fancy-pants. Holy-mother-effing rich bitches, people! My miniscule champagne cocktail cost HK$298, the equivalent of about US$42. It’s all about the views, apparently.

OH! And right outside the Most Elitist Bar on Earth? The Most Giantist Diamond on Earth. Check THIS out:

That’s right. You are reading that correctly. Pick your jaws up off your keyboards.

So, before I left to go overseas for two weeks, I thought I’d FINALLY get one of those expensive shellac style manicures to last me the duration. Be warned ladies, they don’t always “take.” Mine lasted less than 24 hours.

I’m still contemplating going back to the shithole that performed this monstrosity and demanding my money back. Doubtful it will do any good, even with pictures as proof, but whatever.

So when I got to Hong Kong, I was a hot mess - physically. I had God-awful cramps, my lower back was thrashed from the 28 hours it took me to get there. I also had a wicked pinched nerve starting from my lower right shoulder, traveling up under my right ear. I was considering a massage, but my boss said, “No! Let’s go get fire cupped!”

Not familiar with fire cupping? Here’s a great description of the process. Basically, it’s a Chinese homeopathic treatment, similar in style to acupuncture. I’d always wanted to try it, so figured, “Why the hell not!” I could barely walk to the place, I was in such pain. I laid down on the table and some little Chinese lady started working my back like nobody’s business. She massaged my aching muscles with her teeny tiny little fingers, and I swear she she could pin-point each little aching nerve. After about 25 minutes, I heard another lady come in with a bucket full of glass. I knew it was The Cupping Lady. I could hear her lighting the alcohol soaked cotton and the “whoosh” of the ignition into the glass cup. She started with just one, creating a suction on my back and running it along my shoulders, and down the sides of my spine. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. It hurt, but felt incredibly good at the same time. A painful release, perhaps? My boss had just finished up her treatment and walked in to see how I was doing. She snapped a few photos for me.

Yes, that’s my skin bubbled up in there. The heat in the cups sucks the the skin and blood up into the cups. The suction is insane. I could seriously feel some sort of pull all the way inside my chest. It was amazeballs. And a little scary.

After about 15 or 20 minutes, they come and slide a finger around the edge of each cup and magically, it just pops off! Cray-zee. Much like a long-ass-deep-tissue massage, I was totally woozy afterwards. They gave us hot water to drink and told us to drink lots of water that night. I ambled back to the hotel, somewhat disoriented in my new-found physical bliss. I felt amazing. The pinch in my shoulder? Gone. Cramps? What cramps? My lower back was a non-issue. The aftermath was a little gruesome though.

Bruises. Big, nasty, deep bruises. The cupping lady indicated to me that the worse the bruise, the more “toxins” in that area. Note that GIANT bruise on my right shoulder where I had my pinched nerve. Makes sense, right? Even if it was all bullshit, I wasn’t in any pain and that was fine by me.

I celebrated soon after with one of my favorite Chinese dishes, Chairman Mao’s Pork. Super yum and of course, totally low-cal!

Other than those mini-outings, I had very little time for shenanigans. The new company I work for has shorter trips, but no days off while I’m there. Yes, a bit of a bummer, but I get home quicker and after being home (and by “home” I mean “unemployed”) with The Candyman for such a long stretch? Oh, I missed him horribly on this trip!

So there’s a quick update for you. The house is still work in progress. There is one box left to be unpacked and it’s in the studio, which is a disaster area. It’s the project for next weekend, for sure. I did buy some super-cute beaded collars from a fabric shop in mainland China. I’ll write about those when I can uncover them from the pile o’ lace that is my studio.

Have you missed me? Even a little bit?

Just lie and tell me you did.

Travel Size

So I’m leaving for China on Wednesday. I’m so excited, yet dreading it too. I' haven’t been overseas in soooooooooooo long. I have missed it, but going back won’t be the same. I won’t be traveling solo like I used to. I’ll be traveling and working with a whole gaggle of people. I fear the “too many cooks” syndrome. I fear the unknown of working and traveling overseas with people I don’t know very well. Granted, you create an interesting bond with folks as you go overseas with, but I now work for a much larger, much more conservative company than I used to work for.

And hey, I can be kind of childish.

The two might not mix.

BUT, I am seeing two old suppliers-now-friends and I couldn’t be more excited. One of my supplier-friends is from India and will just happen to be in Hong Kong the same time I am! Can’t WAIT to see him. I’ve mentioned him before. He was the guy who made my beautiful wedding reception chargers and never cashed the check I paid him to make them. Remember these?

I taught the same man how to eat sushi and drink hot sake. We always have fun together and I’m SO looking forward to it.

There are other things I’m excited about. I hope to find time for some shopping. There are so many interesting things to buy there, but I don’t know how much time I’ll have. I can’t wait to have REAL Chinese food. Not the crap they serve here and call it so.

I still have to pack. I’m dreading it. I put together outfits for every day and write them down so that in the morning when I’m jet-lagged, late or hung over I don’t have to think about what I’m wearing. However, the process of doing that takes me FOREVER. One thing for certain, I’m packing some necessary travel sized accoutrements. Please note:

I am taking what I learned from Lyn at the last wedding I attended. I am packing emergency wine. I have NO EARTHY IDEA why I never thought of this before. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve come to a hotel room with NO DESIRE to do anything but have a glass on wine and drop dead onto an extremely too-hard mattress. Now, I just might have that opportunity.  I am bringing more wine than hair spray. Go figure.

The sucky part of all this? I leave on Wednesday. My third anniversary with The Candyman is on Thursday. So we ‘celebrated’ this weekend. We bought ourselves a ceiling fan and an area rug (it’s a shag!).

HAPPY ANNIVERSAY! Such romantic gifts, no?

But honestly, we went to our little hole-in-the-wall restaurant for dinner on Saturday and tonight, I roasted The Candyman a  chicken – his favorite meal. Roasted chicken makes everything feel like home. Plus, he’ll have some left-overs since The Candyman’s cooking abilities are based off of not starving to death versus taste.

I want to take my ‘real’ camera this time. I want to take random photos all over Hong Kong. I fear it will simply be a burden though – to haul around when I won’t have lots of time to take photos. Shall I take the risk and lug it or wait until I go back in January after I’ve assessed how traveling with this company shall be?

I think I just answered my own question.

I still have so much I want to write about. More home improvement bullshit. I have a question for the masses regarding a built-in in our den. We took what I think is our last swim of the season on Saturday (mother-fucker BRRRRR!). Oh, and I’m having a fashion-identity-crisis.

Like I said, I’m SO BEHIND in every single thing that I do. Anyone else totally buried?