anthony + pearl

This past weekend, Anthony and I were in Pensacola, FL for Carlos' wedding.  While we can truly say we missed Los Angeles because it was really really REALLY hot and muggy there, we did have some good times (and history lessons) when we were not dripping sweat from our noses.

For those who have not heard of Pensacola, here is a quick history lesson.  Pensacola is located in the Florida panhandle and is very close to a naval base.  It was deemed to be the first European settlement in the continental United States, currently celebrating their 450th year of establishment.  Their claim is that St. Augustine was the longest continuous occupied city while they were washed away and had to rebuild.  In 2004, Pensacola was devasted yet again by hurricane Ivan - the reception location and the hotels where most of us were staying had to be reconstructed. While we did not get to see this, Pensacola is said to have some gorgeous white sand beaches.

We flew into New Orleans Thursday night, the next morning drove 3 hours - note: don't speed in Mississippi, and arrived in Pensacola around 11:45am or so.  We checked into the hotel, which had an old train station as a lobby, grabbed a bite to eat, then headed to the pier and watched the Blue Angels practice for Saturday's show. 

Charlie: You were in a 4g inverted dive with a MiG28?
Maverick: Yes ma'am.
Charlie: At what range?
Maverick: Um, about 2 meters.
Goose: It was actually about 1 and a half I think. It was 1 and a half, I've got a great Polaroid of it, and he's right there, must be 1 and a half.
Maverick: Was a nice picture.
Goose: Thanks.
Charlie: Eh lieutenant, what were you doing there?
Goose: Communicating.
Maverick: Communicating. Keeping up foreign relations.

It was JUST LIKE THAT!  It was amazing how close two of them really got to each other.  At one point, two planes shot straight up to the point where you cannot see them anymore, then came back from the clouds, and flew to each other upside down and missing each other by so little that you swear they were going to crash.  Words can't really explain how awesome they were.  The synchronized flying formations are also incredible! Four planes flying as one - flying upside down, doing rollercoaster spins, breaking formations to look like fireworks, and various other specialty moves.  And thank goodness, there were no accidents like a few years back.

On Saturday, the ceremony was held in the Old Christ Church. Old Christ Church is the oldest church in the state of Florida and is still standing on its original site - surprising as I mentioned before about Ivan the Terrible. It was used as a hospital and barracks during the civil war by union troops. The church is a national historic landmark and has been restored to its glory.

After both the rehearsal and the reception, we headed down the street from where we were staying to this bar called McGuire's Irish Pub.  The first thing you notice when you walk in are the walls and ceilings being COVERED in dollar bills and the live entertainer singing various covers and Irish drinking songs.  But if he notices that you were out of the ordinary, whether it was your birthday or bride and groom-to-be, you have to "KISS THE MOOSE!" Yes... there is a giant moose head mounted to the wall by the stage and many many people have laid their lips on this stuffed head.

The next day, we wanted to see New Orleans a bit before heading back to California.  Unfortunately, we hit some weather and lost a bit of time to traffic. Although we didn't get to see much of New Orleans this past trip, we still managed to get one good meal at Pierre Maspero.  We tried fried alligator - it tastes like chicken but had texture of pork chops, and the "city sampler" which included famous jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice (best thing ever!), and shrimp étouffée.  Oh man... the food was to die for! *drools*

We then had our brisk walk through Bourbon Street back to the car and took a scenic route to the airport, mostly because we got slightly lost while trying to find the on ramp to the highway.  Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a sight to see as the rest of the city is still littered with many abandoned, dilapidated buildings following both hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  The parts other than downtown seem to have been overlooked since the tourists only concentrate on the French Quarter.  But let's just pray no city has to go through what New Orleans went through as we are getting close to hurricane season. 

One thing we are sure of...  Anthony and I already said we will be revisiting again in the near future when we can spend more time there... in the not so hot and humid months.

On Saturday, July 4th, my most awesome-est girls threw the best shower ever!  Kathy's place was perfectly decorated with the wedding colors.  Adina, our florist, had done some fantastic sprays consisting of white lilies, blue hydrangeas, some deep blue, very pretty, yet very poisonous flowers according to Anthony's dad (solution - don't eat them), and some brown berry looking fill.  The favors were brown chopsticks and blue and brown M&M's.  We also had various engagement photos in frames scattered throughout the house.

The fun began with a "roll your own sushi" lunch.  We had so much food that we could have fed an army!!! There was shrimp tempura, salmon, tuna, squid, shrimp, stuff to make veggie and California rolls, eel, you name it, it was there.  There was also edamame, veggie platter and a fruit platter as snackage.  To drink, we had a GIANT bottle of unfiltered sake, really yummy punch that Dorothy made, and sodas.

After everyone was filled with fishy goodness, we started the games.  First of three was a jeopardy style trivia game - like the ones we used to play in elementary school.  It was definitely worth the months we spent on preparing.  There were four categories: something old, something new, something borrowed, and you guess it, something blue.  Old consisted of questions of my pre-Anthony days while New involved questions of the adventures that Anthony and I shared.  Borrowed was interesting as it was asking about traditions, customs, fun facts about weddings from other countries, eras, and culture.  Blue was testing how observant people were as all the answers were on this website.

The next game probably would have been more fun if we had more people, but it was still a blast none the less.  It is a game called "the TP Bride".  Basically you have to make a wedding dress out of toilet paper and ONLY of toilet paper.  There was a model and a few designers, a roll of toilet paper and after the allotted time, you model it - runway style.  Someone announces the concept and say why they should win.

The final game really tested how detail oriented you are. Before everyone got there, Sandy and I sat down and wrote down and assigned points to everything I was wearing.  The players had to remember what I had on and the person with the most points win.  In this case, it was Margaret, who had 37 out of a possible 42 points.  Amazing! and well deserved the iPod shuffle and iTunes gift card.

After the games, we opened presents - thank you all!!!!  The one gift that probably was the most memorable is the "count down" clock from Jolene... it basically is the how long til the next panic attack timer, but it also just reminds me how much longer until I am officially "off the market"

And then.. "let them eat cake".  Kathy got a red velvet cake with whipped cream frosting and oh man was it good! 

After everyone left, we cleaned up, had more sake, had more snackage, and sat and chatted until literally the fireworks were over.  What a great way to spend my Fourth!  It will definitely be the most memorable!

I can't believe that the wedding is in less than a month and a half.  Time has been flying soo fast!  And I know it has been a while since we posted anything.  But that's because we have been so busy.

Update on the condo.  We were suppose to close today but due to the seller not being ready, it is getting pushed back to next week. We HAVE to get the keys next week or we don't know what we are going to do.  *crosses fingers*  Anthony is suppose to be out of his place by July 9th so we can head to Carlos' wedding in Pensacola.  I hope he isn't homeless when we get back.

Well, the bridal shower is this coming Saturday, so stay tuned for details on that.  I just want to thank my gals - Robyn, Sandy, and Liz - for putting this together.  I also want to thank Cathy for graciously hosting this shindig.

I also just sent back a bunch of details to Victor, our DJ, and Marcy, the wedding coordinator at the Prado.  So that is pretty much set.

Our engagement pictures are here!  But we will release them to public viewing at a later date.  We probably won't release them until we get the wedding pictures as well so you can see ALL at once!

Dancing shoes... hmm... it's a Friday night at 9pm.  Where IS everyone!?  oh my goodness! Dorothy, John, Kevin, Laura, and my cousin have all been taking dance lessons!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!! Anthony and I both felt left behind, so we started taking lessons too.  It's like a domino effect.  My parents are now also taking lessons too! haha!

Oh yea.. our bios.. yea... we've been working on them... just have not had the chance to finish.  Maybe we can finish them this weekend, or maybe not.

Soooo... It has been a few weeks since we last posted an update..  But something BIG happened!  Over Memorial Day weekend, we had submitted our offer for a condo in Fox Hills.  And on June 1st, our agent, Caz - who had been so patient with us, gave us the great news... WE GOT THE CONDO! We are officially in escrow and are scheduled to get our keys on July 2nd.. sweet sweet freedom.. from rent!