Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Russ' parents came to visit during Thanksgiving and they went over to my parents' house to meet everyone and hang out with us!  I'm sure it was a total culture shock for them b/c my family has a totally Asian food Thanksgiving themed dinner and we're a BIG family.  ;)

More BM Dresses

Since I've been having such major issues deciding on a BM dress, I thought about custom-making a dress too!  Kelley, our super duper awesome planner, has a friend who makes BM dresses.  She'll even custom-make them too!

UCLA Beat ASU!!!

Every year, Audrey plans this UCLA tailgate party!  It's great!  We go to the Rose Bowl like 3 hours before game time and we just hang out, BBQ, eat, drink and play games!  This year, we went to the 11/21/09 UCLA / ASU game!

Dinner With Some HS Friends

On Friday, 11/20, Russ and I had dinner w/ my HS friends, Anne and Grace!  We rarely see each other (maybe like once a year now).  At dinner, I realized how long we've known each other ... like since we were about 11 years old!  That would mean we've known each other for like 20 years!!

BM Dress Shopping & Dinner At Fraiche!

On Sat, 11/14, Anita accompanied me to Bella Bridesmaid for some BM dress shopping!  I've been having a terrible time deciding which BM dresses to choose.  Initially, I thought I would go with some JCrew dresses, but they just don't have it in the right color!

sorry!

Sorry I've been MIA w/ blogging!  I suddenly realized that I've been working soooo much that I'm about 1 month behind in watching my favorite shows!!!  And I turned myself from a desk-chair potato to a couch potato!!

Quick recap, but more details to follow...I went w/ my friends to the Three Apples Hello Kitty Exhibit at Royal-T; Russ and I went suit shopping for him; Russ and I *finally* ate at Fraiche; and Russ went to the premiere of New Moon!!!  How lucky is he?!?!?!  Oh and most important...we received our Save-The-Date cards!!!!  They're super cute!!!  Can't wait to mail them.  =)  That's the first thing I need to work on.  After that...more blogging!  ;)  I know you totally want to hear about Hello Kitty!!  =D

Living Cinema - Our Videographer

After searching high and low, and probably at the frustration of Kelley and Russ, we found our videographer!!!  Honestly, this has been a long process for a number of reasons....

**IMPORTANT** Wedding Info

Kelley, our super duper awesome planner, obtained some great room blocks for you!  Please make your reservations in a timely fashion to guarantee the rates.

HOTEL INFO:
1.  Hotel Casa Del Mar for $285/night, does not include parking or tax.  Casa Del Mar is right at Santa Monica beach.  You walk out the doors and w/in a few feet, your feet will meet the sand!  You'll have convenient access to all the wedding activities and the fun things to do in Santa Monica!  Please call 800.898.6999 and reference the "Kuo-Riggins Wedding"!!  The special rate will continue at Casa until Casa runs out of room availability.  If you're planning on staying at Casa, please call them ASAP to reserve your rooms!!!

2.  Hotel Angeleno for $142/night, includes parking, but not tax.  You'll also get a 20% discount if you dine at the restaurant in the hotel.  This hotel is right off the 405 Freeway and Sunset Blvd. exit.  It's near the best university on the face of this earth -- UCLA!!!  ;)  It's about 8 miles from Casa Del Mar (which translates to about a 10-20 min drive, depending on traffic).  Please click on this link for online reservation or else telephone the Hotel at 310.476.6411.  Make sure you reference the "Kuo-Riggins Wedding" when reserving and please make your reservations by May 7, 2010!!

Please make sure you make reservations by the dates referenced above!  If not, you may end up paying a higher rate!!  Also, there are a number of fantastic hotels in the Santa Monica, West LA, Brentwood area.  Feel free to check those out if you're interested.

FLY INTO:
You can fly into LAX, Long Beach Airport or Burbank Airport.  If you like Orange County, there is also the John Wayne Airport (SNA).  LAX is closest (about 9 miles from Santa Monica).

RENT A CAR!!!
If you're planning on touring the LA area (including Hollywood, Malibu, museums) or going to the OC (Disneyland), you'll need to rent a car.  LA is a HUGE place and, unfortunately, our mode of transportation is generally in a car!

WEDDING REGISTRY:
We're registered at the following places:

1.  The Honeyfund - Please help fund our honeymoon to Turkey!!
2.  Bloomingdale's - Whenever I look out my office window, I have a great view of Bloomingdale's in the Century City Mall!!
3.  Crate and Barrel - Our go-to home store!

Thank you for coming!!!  We can't wait!!!  =)

Haeli's Bridal Shower

On Sunday, 11/8, I went with Audrey and Anita to Haeli's Bridal Shower!  It was sooo much fun!  We played a game where you use toilet paper to make the bride's dress; another game where we made a bride out of playdoh; another game where we put a paper plate on top of our head and had to draw out Haeli's dream house.  It was a lot of fun!  And we ate Porto's!  YUMMY!  We also had delicious cupcakes.  Oh and Malcolm made a surprise appearance via Skype!  Super funny and cute!  I had a great time!

Roger & Lisa's Wedding

After Adrienne and Alex's baby shower, we headed over to Monterey Park for Roger & Lisa's wedding.  It was at New Capital Seafood Restaurant in San Gabriel (or maybe it's Alhambra) in the 99 Ranch Center.  Russ and I got there a bit early, so we sat in the car and contemplated life.  Well, actually, I sipped (or maybe gulped) my cappucino to keep me awake and Russ tried to take a nap before the wedding.  haha.  ;)

Adrienne and Alex's Baby Shower

On Saturday, 11/7, Russ and I went to Adrienne & Alex's baby shower.  There was soooo much delicious food there!  Since Adrienne and Alex are Filipino, they had lumpia there and we couldn't stop ourselves from eating a ton of it!  hehe.  We ate sooooo much food that I thought my dress was going to bust open!

Sneak Peak - Save the Date

I can't remember if I already mentioned this in the blog (I tend to forget things when I work a lot and sleep a little)...but anyway, I can't remember if I mentioned this, but Kelley came up with this awesome idea for our Save-The-Date Cards.  =)

Videography Meetings (and more)!

Russ and I have been having a hard time trying to find a videographer that we really like.  Initially, we didn't think it was necessary to have one.  I just wasn't sure how often we would be viewing the video.  But then, as we talked to more ppl, we were told that we had to have one.  One of Russ' old boss said that that was the one thing he wished he had gotten, esp since their photographer got tons of pix, but the ones they ended up getting were the ones of him and his wife!