I am officially 35.  I'm been kinda not looking forward to approaching this "high-risk" age.  Women out there all know what I'm talking about.  But I am grateful for what I've got at the ripe old age of 35 and I have no regrets. 

To celebrate, Mr. BAW took me to this absolutely fabulous restaurant overlooking the whole of LA Basin.  Yamashiro sits atop of the Hollywood Hills and the view from the restaurant is simply breath-taking.  The restuarant itself is amazing.  Having been to Japan recently, we recognize the architecture looking very similar to Nijo Castle. 

You must make reservations and you have to valet park.  The road leading up to the restaurant is narrow (lined with homes and parked cars) and difficult to get through.  But once you're there, the view is completely worth the drive.

If you're ever in LA, I highly recommend you dine here once.  It's pricey but worth the experience.

It wouldn't be a birthday without presents.  And it wouldn't be a great present if Toby hadn't approved it with a sniff.  I have been obsessed with crepes every since my friend introduced me to this incredible crepe place in Westchester called KC Crepes.  Though they have a huge variety of dinner crepes, including Hawaiian BBQ Pizza Crepe, my true love is their dessert crepes.  My favorite is the strawberry and chocolate crepe.  It's a heavenly combination of strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream, and toasted almonds.  I can't think of a better combination of flavors. 

So my when Future Brother-In-Law (FBIL) visited us from Chicago back in May and I had to take him to KC Crepes.  I guess I raved about crepes so much that he got the hint and got me this crepe maker!!  Imagine my excitment at the thought of being able to make my own heavenly dessert crepes without having to get into a car to drive to KC Crepes!!  I can already imagine making breakfast crepes, lunch crepes, and maybe even dinner crepes!! FBIL also also got me a crepe recipe book.  Can't wait to experiment with the new gadget!

As you can see, Toby approves of the crepe maker.  :-)  But he'll be sad to learn that it doesn't make any doggie cookies. 

We've finally sent out most of Save-the-Date magnets!  So I can finally show everyone what they look like.  The size of the magnets are business card size, so they are a little on the small side.  But I was still able to fit our picture, a small calendar with our wedding date marked up in red, and a picture of a Cherry Blossom I took in Japan.  Click on the image to see a larger version.

I designed the layout and picked the font.  Then I uploaded the entire image onto Vista Print and ordered the magnets.

We decided to send out out Save-the-Date magnets out with our Christmas cards.  This idea came from TNK, she did the same for her June 2007 wedding. 

This idea is brilliant, helping us save on buying extra stamps and cards.  I used a small amount of tape to secure the magnet to the Christmas cards. 

We also started to receive Christmas presents.  My MOH TNK surprised me this year with a wedding theme Christmas!  She found these gorgeous toasting glasses with Cherry Blossoms edged onto the glass.  The pictures don't do them justice at all!!!  I LOVE the glasses, they are perfect for our wedding.  They also come with these beautiful wine charms with our names and wedding dates engraved.  When I saw our names engraved, I literally teared up because it's starting to feel real.

The wine charms also have little pink and red beads that resemble the design on our wedding site.  TNK also got us a beautiful cake cutting set for the wedding.  Without her, I was just going to use whatever glass and cake cutting tools the reception site provides!! How awful would that have looked in pictures. 

I've neve been a detail-oriented person, so thank goodness I have such a wonderful friend.  TNK used to make all kinds of scrap-booking things when we lived together, I always knew that she was very detail-oriented. 

Things are starting to take shape for the wedding.  We have a lead for a possible DJ.  Several of our friends have used this person and he's in our local area.  So I' hopeful and can't wait to meet with him.

With all these boxes of presents arriving all the time, you think Toby wouldn't be poking his head into them to check for doggie gifts?  Well, he wasn't disappointed.  Auntie TNK got him this adorable "Fleas Navidad" bandana and a gorgeous "Be Merry" charm, just in time for Christmas!  Look at him, doesn't he look spiffy in all his holiday gear?  :-) 

My first wedding disappointment...the shoes I ordered in the previously blog turns out to be a dud.  Chinese Laundry email me to tell me that they ran out of the shoes I ordered two days ago online.  I went back to the website and was STILL able to order the same pair of shoes they no longer carry! 

I think it's just their ploy to get my credit card information.  If they no longer carry a product, you should not be able to order it, go throught the entire process of putting in your information and even getting a confirmation email!  I will never order from their website again. 

Luckily, the style is very common and my MOH promises me that I can find similar shoes elsewhere.  Thankfully, I still have plenty of time to look for new shoes.  It sure helps to start the planning early!

Wedding planning update...we've accomplished quite a bit in the past month!  The most significant milestone is that we have picked our photographers!!  We've decided to sign with Jesse Biltz of Knot Photography.  To me, picking the photographers is the most stressful part of the wedding planning.  After everything's done, you're left with nothing but photographic memories of your big day.  This person(s) can shape your memories for decades to come.  Besides the site and food, photography takes up the biggest chunk of our wedding expense.  We met with Jesse and his wife (our second photographer) and they were full of enthusiasm.  They are a young couple, just married themselves a year ago.  We actually met with another lady who took great pictures.  All of her pictures were beautiful, but none had any "wow" factor.  Jesse also took beautiful pictures, but he also took some "wow" pictures.  We loved the vibrant colors and his energy. 

We met with three photographers before making our decision.  I am still a bit scared with the decision, but one can never be sure about these things.  My biggest fear is that on the day of the wedding, the photographers don't show up.  But we just have to trust the contract and go with our gut instincts right?  Mr. BAW likes them and I trust his instincts too.  But I'll definitely ask some friends to take plenty of pictures at the wedding, just in case...I do have a few friends who are pretty darn good photographers. :-)

Though I still don't have a dress yet, I've got a veil and now I have shoes!! :-) I found these Chinese Laundry shoes online back in March intending to wear them to TNK's wedding in June as her Maid of Honor.  But due to procrastination, I didn't order them in time and ended up with another pair of shoes in nude.  I went back to the website last night and discovered that they are now on sale!!  They also still have my size (5.5) which is rare too!  Usually, the smallest shoe sizes places carry is a 6.  So I immediately ordered them.  After taxes and shipping, they still came under my wedding shoes budget by $10.  I'm slowly assembling my wedding day look.  Now...the dress?? Sigh...

We also got our save-the-date magnets from Vista Print.  I love this site!!  They made customizing extremely easy, allowing proofs to be downloaded so you can print it out on your printer for instant viewing.  The product came extremely fast after placing the order.  Their prices are very reasonable, partly due to the fact that they are based in Canada.  I think I'll be designing my own wedding maps and going with them for the printing.  I've already sent out most of my save-the-date magnets to my friends and family along with the Christmas cards.  This idea I stole from TNK since it saves stamps!  :-)  I'll post our save-the-date magnet design once everyone's received it.

Next items on the list...music (DJ or Band), bridal dress, and flower vendors.  Oh, and my personal dilemma...long hair or short hair?  I will definitely wear my hair down for the wedding...but what length do I go with???

I guess it's turning into somewhat of a tradition now.  This is the second year we've gone to a museum the day after Thanksgiving.  I love this idea since practically the whole world is shopping the day after Thanksgiving.  This makes the museums less crowded and more pleasant to visit. 

Last year, we went to The Natural History Museum.  This year, we decided to see The Norton Simon Museum.  Norton Simon was a wealthy business man who loved art.  His art collection included European art and Southeast Asian art.  This museum is the backdrop to the world famous Rose Parade each year since it is located at the start of the parade route.  I've seen it for decades on television each year and yet have never visited it until this year. 

Though the museum is small, it boasts a wonderful collection of famous art, including Van Gogh and Picasso.  But it also contains a huge collection of religous art from India.  For a small museum, it was pretty diverse.  The museum does allow photos as long as the flash is turned off.

Click on the image to see detail.

Take a close look at this incredible painting! I couldn't help but gawk at the details of the lace on his collar!  It's simply amazing that the artist acounted for the overlaying of the lace.  I wonder how long it took to paint in all the fine threads of the "lacey" part.  I would be soooo scared to make a mistake at the last stroke! 

The bottom level of the museum housed all of Norton Simon's Asian art collection.  There were tons of bronze, stone, and gold statues.  Most of the statues are religious art from India.  The layout of the museum is well thought out and included a meditation area over looking a peaceful garden with a large stone Buddha statue.

One particular piece of art stood out for us.  It was a beautiful chess set from India.  The set was displayed in a glass case.

It's December and so naturally it's gift time.  What to get your loved ones this year??  I LOVE personalized gifts.  Up In Pieces is a customize puzzle site that allows you to upload any picture you want and turn it into a puzzle.  You can even choose the size of the puzzle pieces depending on the level of difficulty you want.  I ordered this puzzle of TNK's new puppy, Jack, for her birthday.  Though it took them three months, they finally finished the puzzle! :-)  She liked the idea so much that she ordered a puzzle of her cousin's baby for her cousin.

Other creative gift ideas?  How about gift cards?  Yeah, yeah, some may feel that gift cards are the least creative presents one can give.  No longer, these days merchants allow you to customize gift cards!!  I LOVE Macy's website.  They allow you to upload your own photos and add text to the gift cards.  They do charge an extra $5 for customizing your card.  But totally worth it for that extra touch. 

Although Starbucks don't allow you to upload your own pictures, they do have canned characters for you to customize with some cute background choices.  I made a couple of characters that resemble my friends and I added text to further personalize them.  The cool thing about the Starbucks gift cards is that once you use up the amount on the gift card, they can keep the personalized card and add more money to it.  You're basically giving them a personalized discretionary card. 

Plus, the shipping is free on both Macy's and Starbucks gift card sites.  So instead of walking into the stores to purchase your standard gift cards, personalize them online and have them shipped directly to your loved oned.  I am, however, having them all shipped to me because I want to put them into my Christmas cards.

Personalized gift cards is the only way to go.  But merchants are slow to follow suit.  Places like Bestbuy and JCrew are still not offering personalized gift cards.  Maybe someone from those places read my blog and add this great new service to their site!