It's been a while since I've shared a tip from Martha Stewart's magazine.  But in this month's issue, Martha shared the story of her mother, Martha Kostrya, with us.  Her mother passed away recently at the age of 93.  In the article, we get to see pictures of this remarkable woman when she was just a teenager.  I love old pictures and love to read about lives of women from decades ago.  Martha K. had 6 children and she loved to cook.  Martha S. inherited all of her organizational skills and attention to details.  So it is fitting that the tip I'd like to share with everyone comes from Martha Kostrya.

"...we gathered at my brother George's home and were each handed envelopes prepared by Mother. In mine were documents I had never before seen -- my birth certificate, my Baptism certificate and communion papers, my diphtheria and measles shot certifications, a $10,000 savings bond, and a note from the pediatrician saying I was fit for school. Only Mom, with her sense of organization, would have known that these would touch my heart like nothing else she could bestow upon me."  --Martha Stewart.

I love that idea!  Such a wonderful gift...Maybe because so many friends of mine have given birth lately, but I've been thinking about how to capture moments of my future children.  We have so many options in the digital era.  People born within the last 10 years have (ultrasound) pictures of themselves even before they are born!  Though I've never been one to make scrapbooks (all the glueing and paper cutting is just too much work for me), I love making photo books.  I recently made a Toby Book.  I no doubt will be making photo books of my children as long as I can operate a computer, scanner, and a digital camera. 

Speaking of making memories, here are a few sites I've discovered that I love and will use for my wedding in some way.

1) blurb.com - make professional looking photo books at half the price of other photo sites.  I'll no doubt be making my own wedding albums after the wedding.
2) flipclips.com - turn a 30 sec movie clip into a flip book (just like when you made one as a kid!) I'm going to make one of our wedding vow exchange!  Cool to show people at work!
3) ljcfyi.com (year to year) - this woman takes pictures of each of her family members on New Year's Day each year to see how they change year to year.  Some man started the idea and did it for twenty years!
4) My own future Mother-In-Law came up with this idea...she displays a picture frame for each of her boys and adds the front picture with a new school picture each year.  Over time, she has a stack of pictures of her kids as they grow in cronological order. 

Nifty ideas huh? How will you store and share your memories?

Along our hike to the beach.  Can you find Toby??

This is not my dress.  I wish it was my dress because I love this dress.  I love the classic neckline and the structured bodice that ends at the natural waist.  I love the puffiness, the organza layers.  But I knew that for me to find this exact dress is next to impossible.  Luckily, I did find the dress that I do love.  Here's my dress story...

I went to visit my future in-laws in Michigan over Christmas.  My future Mother-in-Law went dress shopping with me.  We went to a David's Bridal in Madison Heights near their home.  The day we went it was a Saturday, two days before Christmas.  This means that there was only one other girl there with her friends trying on dresses.  So I got tons of personal attention from the store manager and the clerk.  I had been to a David's Bridal in LA just months prior and didn't find anything I liked then.  But apparently they released a new line for the new season.  I of course fell in love with the latest Oleg Cassini design that was way over my dress budget.  So I wasn't about to make the purchase without taking a few days to "think it over."  Plus, I can easily go back to LA and order the same dress.  The store manager also knew this but she really wanted me to buy the dress from their store.  So she gave me a $200 discount and is willing to ship the dress to me in LA free of charge!  I made her put all this down on paper.  Much to their dismay, I still left to think things through over Christmas. 

During Christmas, I had a talk with my future Mother-in-Law about the price of the dress.  Out of principal, I've always said that I didn't want to spend so much money on a dress that I will only wear for a few hours.  But she told me that she grew up with the idea that a girl's wedding is one of the apex of her life.  And she convinced me that the dress will be in pictures for generations to come and it wouldn't last only a few hours.  She was such a romantic when it comes to wedding and marriage that she made me realize that this indeed is what I've been working so hard for all my life.  My wedding is one of the major life events that I've worked so hard for.  A few days later, we went back to the store to try the dress on one more time.  This time I made sure to pay attention to the details of the dress, the back closures, the fit, and the bodice.  I still loved it a second try so I made the purchase then.  If you are not Mr. BAW, click here to see the dress.  I unfortunately forgot to bring a camera with me so I don't have pictures of me in the dress to show you.

Since they don't carry my size in the store, they have to order the dress.  So I won't get the dress until mid-April.  Then I have to take the dress back to a David's Bridal in LA to have them add in the bustle and make any alterations necessary.   But it is such a relief to me that I got the dress!  I can't wait til I get it.  Now I need a petticoat...

Congratulations to the University of Michigan for winning the Capital One Bowl.  Michigan is Mr. BAW's alma mater so I naturally got a tour of campus and Ann Arbor when I visited a few weeks ago.  Michigan is a very beautiful campus.  When we visited campus, there was a dusting of fresh snow and all the trees have lost their leaves.  The central part of campus is spatious and very collegiate.  Mr. BAW also insisted on getting Toby a Michigan collar.  So I told him that if Michigan beats Florida in the Capital One Bowl, Toby will wear his Michigan collar for one year.  Looks like that's exactly what he'll be doing! 

And if you visit Ann Arbor, then you must grab lunch at Zingerman's, the local deli that is famous for their giant deli sandwiches and large selection of desserts.  This quaint eatery is tiny, the meat and sandwich area is split from the dining and dessert area.  You order at the counter, then walk outside to a separate dining and dessert area.  They will bring your order to your table.  As you can see, folks love this local deli.  I can't imagine what it'd be like when classes are in session.  I had the Ruben, with cornbeef, cheese, and sour kraut...yummy.

This is us in Toronto during a snow storm.  I actually prefer snow over rain, it's much less messy and a lot prettier.  We spent two days in Toronto and I loved it.  Toronto reminded me so much of San Francisco.  The street cars (buses) also run on electricity so there is the criss-crossing of cables over intersections that San Francisco has.  They also have a Little Italy and a China Town.  The shops along the streets in Little Italy reminded me so much of the quaint streets of San Francisco at North Beach. 

It was Boxing Day in Canada!  I've seen Boxing Day marked up in many of my calendars but have always thought that it was related to the sport.  But it's actually the day (or week) after Christmas when the stores have their really HUGE sales.  We accidentally visited the Eaton Center on Boxing Day and I've never seen more people in a mall before in my life.  And I live in LA!  The Eaton Center is this gigantic mall with so many levels I couldn't even count.  But on Boxing Day, it was jammed packed with people, everywhere!  We didn't buy anything but the experience was quite unique. :-)

This is a typical street in Toronto, near the Eaton Center.  It was decorated with some art-deco lights for Christmas.

The snowy scene below was taken from Casa Loma.  We visited the famous castle during a snow storm!  It was freezing but it made for a beautiful scene.  The picture of us above is taken right in front of Casa Loma as were heading into the castle.  I will post more pictures from that tour in the next blog.

The sky line below is actually Detroit taken from across the river from Windsor, Canada.  We had dinner in Windsor on our way back from Toronto.  Though it was not snowing in Windsor, the evening was extremely cold, down to the 20s.  But the crisp air made the Detroit sky line even prettier.  And since it was just days after Christmas, you can still see the red and green light displays on the downtown buildings. 

I love Toronto and now wish to visit Vancouver and Montreal. :-)

Happy New Year everyone!!  I can't believe it's 2008 already.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas break.  I had my very first white Christmas with the future In-Laws in snowy Michigan.  The thermometer read 25 degrees and it was gorgeous with a ligt dusting of new snow just in time for Christmas.  I also scored big time in the presents department!  Mr. BAW surprised me with this beautitul portrait of Toby!  He took a picture of Toby (his typical morning) and asked an artist friend of his to render the picture into a painting.  I LOVE this picture of Toby, it completely captures "Toby" at his most typical.  We managed to tuck the picture into the overhead bin on our flight back to LA! :-) 

Besides spending Christmas with the family, I also got to visit Mr. BAW's hometown of Rochester Hills and his college town of Ann Arbor.  And all in the span of several hours I got to experience snow flurry, snow, hail, and rain.  We also took a quick trip to Toronto.  I'll post pictures from the Toronto trip in the next blog.

Oh, and wedding planning update...I BOUGHT THE DRESS!!! I'll give you the details in a few days.