I'm leaving on jet plane...

First, I want to apologize for not being an avid bee lately. It really is true when they say that the time goes by fast. Before I knew it I was in the 30 day stretch and still had TONS to do and not much time to blog about it, but don't worry I did make time to record it with my handy digital camera. You'll just have to be patient with me because I leave in a few hours for Hawaii! By this time tomorrow (or today, actually), I will be in Hawaii running around like a headless chicken trying to get things done. By this time next week, I will be getting married! 

I want to thank you bees (and knotties!) for being such an inspiration! I can honestly say that not one idea for our wedding is a Ms. Mek original. You guys are amazing! Thanks again, and next time I "see" you again will be after the wedding! 

Suits & Scruffiness

Talk about procrastination, less than we week before we leave for Hawaii and only NOW did we get Mr. Mek's suit tailored. Better late than never. It was actually a good thing we waited because Mr. Mek has been in training mode and managed to gain over 20 pounds of muscle in 7 months. That determination and dedication, I do not have when it comes to working out. :oP 

Here the tailor is pinning Mr. Mek in. Mr. Mek brought his wedding day sneakers in too, to make sure the pants are hemmed correctly.

Even lil' B was there to make sure daddy looked good.

A sneak preview of Mr. Mek in his tailored to fit threads. 

*note: shoes and shirt do not go with ensemble, neither does his scruffiness. 

Please ignore his "why the hell are you taking a photo of me?!" look.

Out of Town Prep Work

Phew! Things have been pretty hectic lately.

By this time next week, Mr. Mek and I will be relaxing (hopefully!) in Hawaii before the days leading up to our wedding. The last two weeks I've been confirming timelines, re-confirming vendors, finishing up small projects and basically trying to get organized. I've been running around like a headless chicken!

One of the smaller projects I've been working on are our OOT bags. I don't plan on assembling them till we get to Oahu; there are still a few things I need to get for the bags that I plan on buying there. I've been working on a few lil' details for the bags so I have less to do when we're there. Like name tags. Each bag will be "assigned" to a guest/family.

I put the guest's name in Hawaiian of the tags for fun.

Postcards are also going in our OOT bags; knottie plumeriapal was my inspiration. A friend mailed me vintage inspired Hawaiian postcards from Walmart in Hawaii and I got the glassine envelopes from Paper Presentation. I put Mr. Mek to work and he addressed one postcard for each guest/family with our address, so they can easily mail a postcard back to us. Another postcard was given to them to send or keep for themselves. All were pre-stamped.

My inspiration, knottie plumeriapal

My postcards:

These are the"instructions" we put with the postcards.

Other tedious prep work I've been doing is cutting labels and ribbon for easy assembly later.

*note when pre-cutting ribbon, use a lighter to singe the ends so they don't fray. After cutting ribbon to my desired length I re-wrapped the ribbon around the spool to keep the ribbon nice an unwrinkled while crammed in our luggage.

My cardigan search...

I looked high and low, but I guess I was just being picky. I either didn't like like the style, didn't like the price or they didn't have the colors I wanted. Honestly, I was being cheap. I didn't want to spend $$ on a cardigan that I might not wear again. And the ones I liked, that I would most likely wear again and again, were well over $60 (thanks Jcrew for the tease!).

While on the cardigan hunt, I came across these cute tops at 579. Don't they kind of remind you of these? They had them in white, purple and black. They best part, they were only $15!

excuse the poor cell phone camera

If they had other colors, I might have gone this route, but instead I went the funky, cardigan direction and scored this red and black polka doted cardigan for $16.90 from H&M. Almost as good as my $4 earrings. Not too bad, for something only intended to keep me warm later in the night.

And it's perfect length, I think anything longer would have made me look like a hump back with the obi sash.

Did you splurge or save on your wedding attire?

I support my local seamstress.

Two weeks ago I had my first (and only) dress fitting. sillyinphilly had recommended me her seamstress in Lititz and seriously girls, this woman is a godsend (and only gets work by word of mouth)! I literally was in and out of her hair in 15 minutes. The zipper on my dress kept sticking, to the point where I could not get out of my dress. Not at all. Karen, the seamstress, literally had to cut me out of my dress.

Unfortunately I don't have any before photos of me and my dress. Imagine this model is me. :o)

My dress on an itty bitty model, Jenny Yoo

Within' minutes of having my dress on, Karen was sticking my dress with needles. Literally 5 minutes later, she was done. I came back 2 weeks later, tried on my dress and that was it. I was done with alterations. I thought for sure I would have to come back again. Nope. She did it all in one shot. Besides putting in a new zipper, I had my dress hemmed, taken in an inch and I had the top made into a sweetheart top all for (roll drum roll, please) $53.

See my new sweetheart neckline? Don't mind the junk in the background...that's all wedding poop!

And since you girls asked, here's how much of my dress exposes my tattoo. My hair will be semi-down on wedding day.

For you Central PA girls:

Karen Chow

(717) 519-2458

Did you find a local seamstress or have your alterations done at a bridal store?

Surprise! I'm a Tattooed Bride

Disclaimer to those who don't "approve" of tattoos: I am not asking for your approval; it is already permanently bonded to my skin, so your negative comments won't make a difference. To each their own. And didn't your mother ever tell you that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say it at all?! :)

source photography by Allebach Photography

Last week Miss Martini talked about tattoo cover ups. This is the opposite of a cover up. Mr. Sushi and I are actually found of tattoos. He and I both have a couple tattoos...till this past October when I finally decided to take the plunge and get a massive piece of art done.

I've been pondering the idea of getting a back piece for about 5 years now. When coincidentally one day in October, while waiting for my dad to stop by, I was looking up tattoo artists on the internet, specifically ones who do Japanese art from my local area. I had gotten a free magazine rack off of craigslist and my dad had brought over his trusty truck to help me pick it up. We get to Carlisle, where the magazine rack was waiting for me...only to see a tattoo shop with Japanese art all over the window. Coincidence? I think not. When I got home I emailed the guy who gave me the magazine rack and inquired about the tattoo shop. Apparently he lives above the shop and his landlord is the tattoo shop owner. AND there was an artist who works there that specializes in Japanese artwork. A week later I made an appointment and since then have had about 5 sessions.

Session 1: You can see my old stamp tramp here, soon it will be gone!

Session 2: added lots of flowers, started the cover up of my old tat

Session 3: added a cherry blossom tree behind the geisha girl and a few waterfalls

Session 4 & 5, starting to get some color
Art work done by Cooper from Visual Addiction

I still have a long way to go. You see that area on my left shoulder that's pretty un-inked right now? Well, eventually the temple that Mr. Sushi and I are getting married at will be placed there upon mountains. I thought it would be a nice way to memorate our wedding without putting names and dates on me permanently.

source The temple we're getting married at will eventually make it's way into my tattoo.

I should note that other than my brother, no family knows of my work in progress. A few family members will find out when they read this (love you, dad!) and the rest will probably find out when we're all strutin' around in our swim suits in Hawaii. Should be interesting!

On a different, but related note, after months and months of healing, I found that Gold Bond Ultimate Healing lotion has worked best for me during that yucky, peeling, itchy stage.

source

For all the girls who are inked, and proud of it, share your ink!