I’m so Excited! (and I just can’t hide it)
July 23, 2009 
Mr Frenchie has known since our first date that I am not a HUGE fan of Chinese Food. I’m surprised we went out again because Chinese is his favorite! Especially Chinese Buffets.
Mr Frenchie’s dream! (Source)
Since I’m not an evil French Bulldog, I do go to Chinese with Mr Frenchie occasionally. However, I’m also not a dumb French Bulldog so we made a deal and we switch off between Sushi (my favorite) and Chinese. Currently, were on Sushi because Mr Frenchie foolishly suggested Pick-Up Stix for dinner last night. HA! That means I get to squeeze in one more Sushi dinner before our rehearsal dinner.
Yes, that’s right, I agreed to have Chinese food for our rehearsal dinner. A couple months ago, Mr Frenchie and I were spending a weekend in San Diego. It was Chinese’s food turn and Mr Frenchie wanted to take me to a restaurant he used to go with FMIL Frenchie, called China Camp. (For you San Diegians this is behind the pink Denny’s on PCH).
Source
“China Camp at Fat City is a theme restaurant, a re-creation of the 19th century camps where Chinese immigrants lived while building railroads, working in mines and working at other grueling jobs. So you’ll see waterwheels, old photos, camp memorabilia, hanging abacuses and a huge Chinese dragon — all meant to commemorate the immigrants’ struggle while celebrating their contributions as culinary artists.” – Kat Forcades signonsandiego
I wish I had a picture of the inside! China Camp was the most enjoyable Chinese restaurant experience I had ever had. In fact, I was the one who suggested it as a rehearsal dinner spot. Shock and Surprise Mr Frenchie was in 
Now, with our Wedding invitations off in the mail and our RSVPs rolling in, we needed to get crackin’ on the rehearsal dinner invites. One reason I hadn’t started was because I had NO CLUE what I was going to do. That was until I saw what Mrs Gummi Bear did for The Toucan’s first anniversary and I knew! I contacted Gummi and she drew this awesome picture of Mr Frenchie and me on a Chinese take-out box.
How FREAKIN’ ADORABLE is this?!? I LOVE IT!
I was going to hold off and show these to you after my order from Vista Print had come in and I had already mailed them out. But, no-one in my family, except my awesome cousin Katie, reads WB and I know she won’t spoil the surprise. (Hint, Hint Katie). So, with Gummi’s adorable illustration I went to Vista Print and did a little magic with an oversized postcard.
Front
Back
I seriously cannot wait to get these in the mail! A special thanks to Mrs Gummi for getting this to me while she was in the middle of moving! I heart you Gummi 
Are you having a less than conventional rehearsal dinner?
**If you’re intersted in a Super Cute illustration by Gummi, hop over to her etsy shop, franceslovesyou.**
Ball and Chain
July 20, 2009 
Mr Frenchie and his dudes went to Palm Desert this past weekend for his Bachelor party. I’ve heard bit and pieces of what they did, most of which involved staying out of the heat as much as possible. It was only 117! This picture cracked me up and reminded me of a story I heard from Papa Frenchie’s bachelor party. 
While Mr Frenchie only had to carry around a red cup, Papa Frenchie’s friends made him a cement ball attached to a chain for him to carry around all night! I’d say Mr Frenchie got off easy! What crazy Bachelor party stories have you heard?
We Love Kids, but…
July 18, 2009 
The topic of children at a wedding is a controversial one. Some people believe strongly that children should be part of the day, while other believe they should stay at home. Like us, I’m sure most peoples’ opinions are a per wedding decision. We’ve been to weddings where we couldn’t imagine what it would have been like not seeing the adorable flowers girl forget to line the aisle with petals, or the ring bearer swinging the pillow around by the ribbon tied tightly around the rings. However, we’ve also been to weddings were an uncomfortable baby has cried in the middle the vows or a bored toddler talked loudly throughout the ceremony.
Every couple decides what is best for their wedding based on their venue, their guests, the time of day etc. Mr Frenchie and I made the unpopular decision, early on, that we are not going to have children in our wedding and we we’re not going to invite children under a certain age. As you know our wedding will take place at a winery and will take place completely outside. In our opinion, our venue does not lend itself to young children.
We have a few friends with babies (whom we absolutely adore) that are have shared with us how excited they are to have a night/weekend for just the two of them. However, we also have a few friends who really want to bring their children along. We understand that finding a sitter cannot always be easy, we’ve spent many nights hanging out with friends at their houses, instead of going out, so they didn’t have to hire a sitter. We also understand that, for some, that means they will not be able to attend our wedding. But, if we bend our rule for one couple we have to do it for everyone, so we’re standing our ground.
To get “the word” out we decided to approach any opposition on a case by case basis. We made sure to put the names of all the invited parties on the invitations and decided that if someone RSVP’d for more we would just explain to them “our policy”. A couple guests have emailed us, before RSVP’ing, to ask and we’ve responded to each as diplomatically as possible. One couple has been less understanding than the others, but again we are standing our ground.
Have you decided not to invite children to your wedding? How did you get “the word” out?
Five for Friday
191 – You’re cute
192 – You know how to help me de-stress
193 – You fun to fly with
194 – You tell me I have nice legs
195 – “ooo hey”
Bride Brain
Wait… what was I writing about again?
Oh, right, Bride Brain. I’m normally not a very forgetful person. I remember to call people back, I reply to an email almost immediately (if I know the answer) and I am rarely late (unless I’m going to work).
A couple weeks ago I order 3 necklaces for my bridesmaids from Lara Leigh Designs on Etsy. She offered to let me write up a personal message to attached to each gift. She had to email me this week, to remind me to send the messages. D’oh!
Thank you notes for my showers? They’re sitting on my desk all written out and all they need are addresses and stamps. I have forgotten for weeks to do that on my lunchbreak and they are sitting right next to my purse.
So, why am I acting so unlike myself? I blame it on work, school and planning a wedding. The Frenchie wedding is fast approaching and I simply have too much on my plate. Luckily, my finals are next week and then I one less thing to worry about.
Are you experiencing Bride Brain?
Thank you, Auntie S
As you know Auntie S is hosting a Bridesmaids’ Luncheon honoring my bridesmaids and me. Auntie S has been in my life since I met BM J in 4th grade so I wanted to get her something special as a Thank You.
Auntie S is a very classy and stylish lady, so what better place to find a present for her than Gilt Groupe? (For those of you who don’t know about Gilt Groupe, it is an invite only website for discounts up to 70% on luxury brands).
The other day when I was checking the most recent Gilt Groupe sales I found this bracelet under Kenneth Jay Lane Jewelry. There were several beautiful pieces, but one particular bracelet stood out to me and screamed, “AUNTIE S!”
Originally priced as a $75 bracelet, I snatched this baby up for $50 total, including shipping. Not only did I get a great deal and find a bracelet I know Auntie S is sure to love, it is also one of our wedding colors. This may be cheesy, but I love that I found her a thank you gift for something wedding related that ties into the wedding without being something about the wedding.
Have you found any great deals for your Thank You gifts?
* If you would like to join Gilt Groupe, you can click this link for my invitation.
Things Seem to Work Themselves Out
This past weekend was another hot one here in Southern California. The weather had been lovely all week. On my birthday, it was perfect – sunny with a nice breeze. Mama Frenchie bought be a coral 3/4 sweater to wear with my white skirt, for my second shower on Saturday, and it seemed like the perfect outfit. That was until I woke-up and Saturday morning and it.was.summer. I don’t know why the heat surprises me every year, but it kinda sneaks up on me. Surprise! It’s Summer! and it.is.HOT!
There was no way I could go all afternoon in a sweater, no matter how pretty. I was already sweating in the shorts and t-shirt I had slept in. I went through my closet, but nothing felt appropriate for a bride to wear to her shower. It looks like something I would wear as a guest, not the guest of honor.
Sister Frenchie told me that White House/Black Market was having a big sale. Um Hello – I love White House/Black Market! And, Who doesn’t love a sale? I figured I would drive over and try on every white dress in the store, if something didn’t work I would wear and skirt/shirt combo I had managed to pull together.
I loved how light the fabric was and that I would definitely wear a bra with straps. The second (or other) dress I tried on was strapless, luckily I thought ahead, and wore my strapless bra so I wouldn’t have to guess if it would work.
I’m not gonna lie, it was a little tight in the boobal area (chestal region). I asked the sales lady if I could try it on in a bigger size, but she told me because of the fabric, most people bring this dress back because it stretches out. Ummm, but will is stretch out in the next 2 hours? I’m wearing this dress at 2pm. I took her advise and bought the dress. When I got home a put the dress on again without a bra, added the straps and it worked MUCH better, YAY!
A Special Thank you to Mrs Cupcake for letting my borrow her Twigs and Honey Flower! It was so pretty, I couldn’t wait ’til the wedding to wear it
Okay, so here’s the best part – I got so many compliments on my new white dress that I decided to bring it was a back-up on the day of the wedding. If the weekend of our wedding is another hot one, I know I can easily change into this dress.
Have you ever had to run to the mall for a wedding fashion emergency?
* Don’t ask me how Mama Frenchi made it the whole day in that jacket… I think it was linen.
Our invitations… ARE AWESOME!
First of all I KNOW our invites should have gone out much sooner than now. I cannot believe it didn’t really hit me until this past week that HELLO our RSVP date is the end of this month and our guests have yet to receive the invitation! Bad Bride! Maybe, I was just too sad to part with them because I am so in love. Mr Frenchie is lucky I met him before these invitations (or I met these invites because of him) because it would be hard to choose between the two. (Honey, I am kidding, of course).
This Sunday Mr Frenchie, Mama Frenchie, Sister Frenchie and I sat around the Mama Frenchie’s dinning room table and knocked these puppies out. (As a Bulldog I’m not sure I should be using that saying).
The assembly line started with me, I stuck all the liners in inside the envelopes and helped Mama Frenchie find names to cross off on the list.
Our friendor Joe had our birdie design printed on contact paper. I would take the backing off the top inch (which was scored), put the still backed part in the envelope and then stick down the sticky side right below the glue part of the envelope. I was super easy!
I would then hand the envelopes off to Mama Frenchie who would number the backs of all the RSVP cards with each guest corresponding number from our spread sheet. This way if anyone forgets to put their name on the reply card we can figure out who they are.
Next, Mama Frenchie would hand them off to Sister Frenchie who would put a Queen Stamp on all the reply envelopes and stuff the whole suite inside.
Early in the week I had printed our address on all the reply envelopes using my trusty (knock-on-wood) HP work printer.
As you can see I had to tape every envelope to a piece of paper because it was too tiny to feed through my envelope slot. This is how the Pros do it, right?
After everything was inside the envelope, Mr Frenchie would seal the outer envelope with a wet sponge and aflix the SUPER CUTE wrap-around return address sticker. He would then pass it back to me and I would put the King Stamp on the outside.
Here is what they look like as you open them (it pains be to cover up the info, it is so pretty)…
Didn’t BM F do a beautiful job?
The sticker isn’t completely stuck down on this one because it is the back of Sister Frenchie’s invite. On the rest of the invites the wrap-around label lays flat.
The Reception and Morning After Breakfast RSVP cards tear off to be mailed back, so the guest can keep the directions and accomodations cards.
So there you have it Hive, the French Bulldog invitations! My DOC loves them so much she wants me to send on to her so she can spend time with it. She wanted to know if that was weird, but I saw nothing wrong with it because, as you know, I wanted to marry them.
Did you cut it close mailing out your invites?
Five for Friday
186 – You wished me Happy Birthday all day yesterday
187 – You understand that I love blogging and listen when I tell you about my “Bee Friends”
188 – You do things to make me happy… simple, but true
189 – You always ask me if we got more presents, like I would forget to tell you
190 – Dinners at San Clemente Harbor
I’m a Cougar *rawr*
Confession: Another reason I wanted to get married on July 4th was, I wanted to be the same age as Mr Frenchie when we got married.
Back when I used to plan out my life, I planned to get married when I was 26. That way, Sister Frenchie would 21 and able to participate in all the bachloretter activities. Good reason, right? Well, at 26 I broke up with my a$$hole ex-boyfriend and met the love of my life, Mr Frenchie. I knew I wasn’t getting married at 26, but I knew he was the man I was going to marry.
So, there you have it. I’m the cougar *rawr*, robbing the cradle etc.
Am I alone? Anyone else crazy like me?
