my comittment to.

it is.
to alex. of course. yay, I got a tattoo. sorry, mom.

タトゥーを入れました。

結婚を記念して。35歳を記念して。

アレックスのメガネを。

おかんに怒られるーーーーー！

almost finally!?

we went to Pasadena today. to get Alex's clothes. yes, he hasn't found one yet.
yes, our wedding is in 4 weeks.
we start from urbanoutfitters, banana, zara, h&m, american apparel and Jcrew.
finally, he found pants!!!! from Jcrew!
what a big relief :))) he's not gonna wear a suit as he was planning before. he goes more casual yet nice style!! He still needs to get a shirt, a tie, and a hat.

oh, by the way, stay away from Brooks Brothers in BH. or if you really want to be treated like Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman, this is the place :P


やっとこさ。
アレックスがパンツを買いました。（遅っ）
後はシャツと蝶ネクタイと帽子。　花嫁はドレスを20分で決め、花婿は4ヶ月かかって探しております。が、やっとそんな長いトンネルにも光が差してきました。神様ありがとう。
ってか、アレックスいっつも買い物長すぎ。私は疲れたお父さんのようにいつも、試着室の前の椅子に座って待っております。男女いつも逆転。

marriage ring

The day is getting closer. Need to pick my wedding ring.
I'm not a jewerly person. I don't like bling-bling, so I picked this as my engagement ring. (yes, I picked myself :) And now I am torn between three options below.

First, here's the engagement ring on my finger (harily finger? don't worry I will shave them at the day.)

so simple ($35)

little rustic textured ring ($85 ? I forgot the price)

beaded ring ($75)

all above from oil+me
hmmmm, haven't made up my mind yet.....

もうそろそろ結婚指輪を選ばねば。婚約指輪に合わせてやはりゴールドのシンプルなものがいいなぁと思って選んだのが上の３つ。元からあまりジュエリーはつけないので、こうゆう華奢なのがいいです。値段も安いし！どれがいいかしら？

RSVPs

We are receving many RSVPs from our friends! (we haven't received yet any from out of USA though, we can't wait!)

Each rsvp has different response style :) Love'em! Thanks!

みんなからRSVPがだんだん届いてきました！みんないろんなチェックの仕方があって、見てておもしろい！でもね、メッセージを入れてくれるのは日本人だけ！ビックリ！ありがとー。

keeper

I just bought this pair from Charles David.
It's yellow and simple. ($115.00)
I could have some shoe clips or I just can wear this pair as is.


I am still very open for any other shoes, but its worth to keep it for now.



黄色のサンダルを買いました。パーフェクトってわけではないけど、今まで見た黄色の靴の中で一番ピッタリだなぁと思って。シュークリップを買って付けるかも？そのままかも？　だんだん、いろんな事が面倒くさくなってきたので、多分もう躍起になって探しはしないかなぁ。。。

girls just wanna have...

nice hair. and make-up.

I'll have a trial session for hair and make-up!
Here's my inspiration. (I will bring these images to the studio.)

not too Hollywoody. little casual (she is always cute)

this bride is sooooo beautiful! clean and elegant.. via Tec Petaja

ah, this bride is so cute... simple hair style but cute :) (I forgot where this pic from. I just loved it and save it. I will post it as I find out)

来週はヘアメイクアップの試しの日（っても、お金払うんだけど。って普通？）。全く何も考えてなくって突然決めちゃったもので、どーしよーか悩んでおります。でも、やっぱりカジュアルな雰囲気なんであんまりキメキメにならない、ゆるい感じにしようと思ってます。そして、また自分のやりたい感じと似合うは別ですからねぇ。メイクはちょっとロマンチック風にしたいが、絶対似合わないと思うし。で、ジェニファーロペスで。って言ってみようと思う。（これ真剣）

keep it real

These are made from real vines.

via whichgoose.

Cute. Great for outdoor nature theme weddings. (like ours)

本物の蔦から出来たヘアピース。自然の中でのウェディングにはピッタリではないでしょうか？

here it comes

The wedding dresses (two sizes) had come!

Actually I haven't even opened the covers yet.
Even though the package is really small for two dresses, I don't know where to keep them in our tiny studio... hmmm, need a big space!!

ウェディングドレスが届きました。こんな小さな箱に2着も！はは、何か普通の花嫁さんよりアッサリとドレス決まったからあんまり感慨が・・・アレックスのスーツ探しのほうが120倍くらい難航してます。

The one

I went to JCrew with Alex and my Maid of Honor (Aya). I know usually a groom is not supposed to see a wedding dress. But we both wanted to make sure if we both like the dress, and of course I also needed a girl friend opinion.
We all agreed this one is the best for me and our wedding style.

tadah-

pretty!

The good thing about Jcrew is you can actually refund if you found something better. I actually bought size 2 and size 4. Of course I'm supposed to lose weight by the time, but you know, just in case :))

ウェディングドレス買っちゃいました。買う気なかったんだけど、なんと返品を受け付けてくれるらしくもし、他にいいのが見つかれば返品返金してくれるんだって。なので2サイズ2着買いました。5着試したんだけど、アレックスもあやちゃんも私もみんな意見一致でこれがいいということに。　さて、これからはこのドレスに合わせてアクセサリーや靴を探さねば。

we at Jcrew dressing room

ah-, not yet

everyday I surf shoes websites. Japan to US. Can't find one yet tho...
After I read this article at It's a Jamie thing, DIY-ing shoes could be also my choice if I couldn't find one. Even though I go with DIY shoes, I still need perfect shoes and clips.
Here's one choice so far.

I used to buy shoes from this brand a lot "seven-twelve-thirty". (Sorry, it's Japanese)

cute flower shoe clip. via B.Poetic (I will ask yellow flower)

What do you think???

まだ、これぞという靴に出会えてないのですが・・・最終的にはこういうアイデアでもいいかなぁと思ってます。やっぱり日本の靴の方がかわいい！！！意外に日本のブランドの方が派手な色とデザインが多いんですよ。アメリカってなんか黒とかシルバーとかが多くて、原色とかがない・・・まだもうちょっと頑張って探してみます。

who doesn't need this?

I definitely buy this

Spanx

ドレスの下にはこれを着けないと、絶対に。これは、絶対に買います。

I DO

I know, I haven't found the ONE shoes yet... but I'm sure I'll have these for my shoes.

by Mindy Weiss-"I Do" sticker it's just $4.00!!

まだまだ靴が見つかってないーーーーーー。だけど、このI Doシールは絶対に貼ろう！たったの4ドル！誰に靴裏見せるんだよ！ってね。自己満足です。

dress hunting

today I made two appointments for ban.do & Jcrew
wow, Jcrew is almost fully booked. The earliest day they could do for me was on 21th 4pm to 5pm.
apparently, Jcrew is popular.
Finally I started looking for the one :)

ban.do

I am loving ban.do. and I am making an appointment visiting their studio.
can't wait to meet those pretty head pieces finally in person.
thank god, their studio is close to my place :)


超かわいいban.do。他のとこもそうだけど、全部ネットだから試せないのが難点。だけど、ここのスタジオが家のすぐ近くでアポをとったら見せてくれるらしい。ラッキー。買うかどうかはわかんないけど、そしてはっきり言って自分に似合うともあまり思えないんだけど。ま、試してみるだけタダなんで。

Wedding Shoes - a Word from the Groom

I (Alex) am a little excited about having found a pair of vintage Italian leather shoes that may very well become the shoes to go with my wedding suit. Yup, Kaori already mentioned my lucky discovery in an earlier post from last week, and now - having worn these babies for one week straight - I want to share a first picture:

Comfortable as a pair of broken-in tennis shoes and only $35 (original: $600!)

Finally

I encouraged myself to step on the scale today. Yes, it's 2010, it's time to face the reality.
The reality is.... gaining 23pound in last 1.5 year. wow!
It's not good, obviously.... I need to lose weight. I wouldn't say I will lose 23 pound in 7months, but at least 10pound... cross my finger (or just go to a gym).


え～1年以上ぶりに体重計に乗ってみました。

アレックスと付き合い始めて1年半で23パウンド！！10キロちょっと？

あり得ん。まじで。今日、今年初ジム行ってきました。続きますように。

to Veil or not to Veil

To be honest, I've never fantasized about "Veil" while many brides (specially in Japan. at least as long as i know) do.
As I posted before, I just wanted to have some headband thingy thing.
But, I was blown away when I saw a bride who wore a "Birdcage" type veil :)

via Brenda's Bridal veils

via Tessa Kim

ヴェールって全然興味なかったんだけど。なんか日本だとマリアベールとかなんとかとか（全然知らない）いろいろあるみたいですが、私は前にも書いたような花を頭につけるのがいいかなぁって。

でも、このBirdcage(鳥小屋？）スタイルにビビビッときてしまいました。でも、ドレスのスタイルとの兼ね合いもあるし・・・うーん、悩むところだ。

Let's talk suits, shall we?

Okidoki, Alex here, time to also throw in my ten cents after Kaori's been doing all the hard blogging labor (by the way, isn't she doing a tremendous job? Please put your hands together, ladies & gentlemen, and give it up for the best fiancé in the woooorld!).

Kaori's scratched the 'groom suit' issue before, and...ehem...I'm loving it so far! :) No seriously, we've received some nasty funny comments regarding my initial desire to sport the baby blue prom tux, but I'm actually long over that, really. No hard feelings. Instead, I've really warmed up with the light gray summer suit, three piece sans the blazer. Nice slim cut though - not your average American power suit with the wide shoulders, puffy legs, pleaded trousers and isht.

Here's a good one I saw at our friends at J.Crew:

Fine-stripe cotton suit from J.Crew

We recently heard the comment that this would make me look like Pee-Wee which I took as a HUGE compliment because that's EXACTLY what I was shooting for! :) Love the skinny legs, 2-button blazer and bow tie!

For all my non-American friends: Mr. Pee-Wee Herman

Concluding my post, here a couple o' couples who are doing it right (in terms of light gray suit elements with white shirt, rolled up sleeves, and yellow tie):

Both via Green Wedding Shoes: left & right

Gentleman, it will be a fun suit day on August 7, so give your own closet a second opinion, say yes to color - or consult your local Goodwill for last century's prom tuxes in your size...I sure wouldn't mind. ;)

Love his shoes!! (okay, her shoes are nice, too) via Once Wed

Sorry to all my German readers (hi mom!) that there won't be a translation of the post into my mother tongue like Kaori always uses doing so - I hope you get the point. :)

As to my Japanese readers (hi Akiko!), let's give this a try...clearthroat: 紳士服は、お尻を右に収まるに来る。光やベビーブルーグレー - 両方の罰金です。限り、あなたのパンツのいくつかの種類を着用する。ありがとうございました。 >^..^<

Go Minis

For casual weddings like ours, mini dresses might be great, too.

by Jenny Yoo
above all are $450! beautiful and reasonable.

by Etsy sarahseven
so girly

by Etsy ouma
very whimsical, that's what Alex likes :)

ちょっとミニドレスもいいなぁと思ったりして。
カジュアルウェディングにはこんな感じも合うと思うんだけど、どうでしょーか？

shoes

Love shoes. I don't know since when I have been obsessed with shoes...


しかし、Can't find the perfect pair yet... Alex keep telling me "you have still enough time to find one!".But I'm scared what if...
My shoes should be yellow, high-heel, sandal or pumps, and with ribon or flower or some kinda motif on it.

top row- manolo

bottom row-louboutin

As everyone knows, Manolo&Louboutin are gorgeous!! don't know why they don't have "yellow".

yellow shoes-i google imaged "yellow wedding shoes", don't know the brand. its perfect

pink shoes-by chanel. its lovely!

bottow row- have no idea where its from. seriously omg so gorgeous, perfection! I want it.

To be honest, its much easier to find cute shoes in Japan(than US). They have beautiful shaped (shoes body and heel are perfectly well balanced) and fun color/design. But I can't go back to Japan for just finding shoes.(and also visa issue)

I saw some brides wear this shoes. I have this pair, and love it! (Vivienne Westwood&Melissa)

But, does not match my wedding theme color.


あ～日本に帰って靴探ししたい～。本当に日本の靴は形がきれい。全体のバランスが本当に良い。アメリカの靴って前から見るときれいだけど後姿が不細工とか、なんかどっかが欠けてることが多い。そりゃー7,8万出せばいいんだろーけど、それでもなかなか良いものが見つからん。そんでもって、デザインもなんかもたっとしたのが多いんだよねー。ちょっとキレイ目なのだとフッカーシューズっぽい。そこんとこ日本のは良くデザインされてると思う。