Big Ticket Spending

This week is gonna be one of investments…wedding investments that is. First of all, I can’t believe how freaking expensive weddings are. I’ve been trying to make ours as affordable as possible, and it is still quite expensive. I guess if you look at the wedding day itself, perhaps we are doing good on the price of everything…but when you add in the bbq and brunch we want to have, the flights to the US from Chile, honeymoon flights & resort costs, plus travel and health insurance…we sure are spending a damn pretty penny. But I know it’ll be worth it.

We’ve gotten a great start on booking the big items--we have already put down the deposit for the caterer, cake, photographer, rental items and tent. This week, I’ve got to get the following done:

Put the deposit on our honeymoon & book travel insurance ($$$)
Order our invitations ($$)
Order our rings (we know which ones we want, so why wait?) ($$$$)
Order fabric for table squares ($)
Research health insurance & possible purchase it ($-$$)
Grand Total: $$$$$$

I also have to finish designing the address labels and putting in everyone’s addresses, then send them to get printed and cut. I’ll also have to order the envelopes, but I don’t think I’ll get to these two things until next week. See, this week is already quite crazy.

Tonight I’ve got a meeting with the travel agent to put down the deposit and discuss the travel insurance.

Tomorrow I will be leaving straight from work and going to Viña to see Juanes at the Festival Internacional de Viña del Mar!!! I am so pumped! It is going to be a long night and I know I’ll be dead on Wed. at work…but it’ll be worth it. Juanes is amazing en vivo (live). I was lucky enough to see him in April 2008 when he came to Denver. My mom and I loved the show!

Wednesday is Christian and my “month-versary”—almost one year married (next month will be 1 year). So we’re planning on going out to eat, but nothing fancy, just a normal dinner out. We are saving the fancy dinner for next month. (P.S. If you have any suggestions of nice restaurants in Santiago, please let me know! We’ve been to El Giratorio, which has good food, but I’d rather try some place new.)

Thursday we’ve booked massages at a place Heather recommended. I have been in need of a massage for over a month now. My back is full of knots and they are causing my injured leg lots of pain. Unfortunately this massage place was closed for two weeks for vacation (as was like everything in this city) and thus the massage has had to wait for quite some time. If it doesn’t end up helping my leg, I might have to go see a chiropractor.

And as I mentioned, in between all of these things, I will be taking care of our “investments” listed above.

Next week will be arts & crafts week as I have some wine corks just waiting for me to hot glue them together!

I Am Dying To Eat....

Maybe it's because I have a mini-caña (hangover), it's almost lunch, I've been looking at the stores at the FlatIron Crossing Mall, and I love food.....but I REALLY have cravings to eat the following things ASAP*:

--Chicken lettuce wraps, sweet & sour chicken and anything else at P.F. Changs
--Spicy sesame chicken at any good chinese restaurant in the US
--Sanitago's beef & been burrito smothered in the medium green chile (medium is really hot, and their hot is fire), along with the chips and salsa (I could NEVER forget their salsa, ugf so good!)
--The aformentioned blueberry bagel, egg & bacon sandwich from Einstein's Bagels
--Angelo's pepperoni & pineapple pizza
--A margarita at the Rio Grande
--A multiple orgasm from Hapa Sushi (you seriously will die when you try this sushi roll, it is ahhhhh-mazing!), oh and maybe some spicy edamame too (I miss edamame)

Ugf, I can't wait until after the wedding so I can eat at all of these places in the 1 weeks time we will have before leaving for our honeymoon! Qué chancho, but they are just sooooooooo damn good!

*Sadly none of this is avaible in Chile...except for the chicken lettuce wraps which you can get at Asian Bistro in Parque Arauco. They are pretty good there, but the sesame chicken they have is way too salty. In any case, this is the best chinese food I've had in Chile, the rest just plain sucks.

Seriously a Sign of Age

How, at the age of 24, can drinking half a bottle of red wine equal a stomach ache in the morning and being dead tired (ie. mini-caña)? Seriously.....just 3 years ago I was going out like a mad woman, maybe even getting 3 or 4 hours of sleep on school nights and still kicking ass in my classes? Today I just wanted to stay in bed and sleep allllllllll day long.

In any case, hanging out with Heather last night was totally worth it! Thanks for coming over Heather & bringing the wine corks....I'll be getting started on the wedding projects asap!

Now, off to work I go.....

Interesting Articles

It's been a while since I posted some links to interesting articles that I randomly come across. So here we go....all from nytimes.com:

Facebook Withdraws Changes in Data Use --I had no idea this was going on. Definitely not a good sign that Facebook wants to keep our data forever. I’m gonna keep an eye on this now.

For Uninsured Young Adults, Do-It-Yourself Health Care –Kind of crazy to think about, but health insurance is a big deal. I really like the fact that in Chile if you don’t subscribe to an Isapre (or private health insurance) you are “automatically” covered by Fonasa (the public health insurance) and as long as you are employed by a company, part of your salary is always put to pay for such coverage. We need something like that in the States.

Op-Ed Contributor: Till Children Do Us Part –I knew there was a reason I didn’t want kids: to save our marriage! No that was a joke, but honestly I totally understand where this comes from. I just hope I get the baby fever by the time I’m 30 or my husband is gonna freak.

Obama Calls Wall Street Bonuses 'Shameful' –This is an embarrassment: that is, the stupid & greedy Wall Street workers who are paying themselves WAY TOO MUCH in bonuses. They are a HUGE reason we are in a financial crisis right now and they still get to benefit from it? Not fair....how about giving that money to the people who actually need the money?

Really?: The Claim: Never Blow Your Nose When You Have a Cold –Just something interesting...

Houston we have a HUGE problem

Remember when I asked you to keep your fingers crossed for the approval I was waiting for at work? Well, let's just say that last approval that I was waiting for did not come.

Yesterday at work my boss said she wanted to talk to me before I left for the weekend. I kind of had a bad feeling about it when she wasn't all smiley when she told me this. So we met. And she said when her and our other boss presented the proposal to the department boss, he just about flipped his lid. Not cool. I won't get into the details and reasons that he wasn't ok with the plan, but in the end I guess they were in talks all week about the situation and came up with the following proposal to present to me:

10 days of my accumulated vacation time
5 days of my unaccumulated vacation time (this would use all of my vacation time for a year)
10 days of no salary
-----------------------
5 weeks in USA


Now, let's remeber what I had originally asked for (and received A LOT of positive support for, thus making me believe whole-heartedly that it was going to work):

2 months of long-distance work (my job is all over the internet, so really it shouldn't matter where I am)
10 days of my accumulated vacation time
10 days of no salary
---------------------
3 months (or 12 weeks) in USA


Unfortunatly there is a HUGE difference between 12 weeks and 5 weeks. And now I'm in a sticky situation where I have BIG and difficult decisions to make.

Maybe you wonder why I need so much time......well, think about all the little details that have to be taken care of, not to mention getting my dress fitted, and then after the wedding there's that thing called the honeymoon....which we are so trying to coordinate with my cousin's wedding in Mexico on the 27th. So the month of vacation time (paid or not) is something I'm not really willing to budge on. And then with only 5 weeks off of work, that would mean I would only come to Colorado 2 weeks before the wedding..........seriously, would it even be possible to plan your wedding and get there 2 weeks ahead of time?

I suppose I could look at it like a destination wedding. Like my cousin, we are getting married out of the country.....only I have never been to the ranch where we will be having the wedding, and it is impossible to do crafty DIY projects in Chile--both of which seriously hinder my planning. Plus all of the people helping me plan (with the exception of Christian) are in the States.....so you know that awesome feeling of getting together with your bridesmaids and doing crafts, or having a bridal shower, or whatever.....ya all of that would be g.o.n.e.

I know I should be thankful they are even saying 5 weeks. BUT I did come to this job being frank about the time I needed off and they said they would totally work with me on it. Plus my previous job was guaranteeing me those 3 months off of work if I had stayed. SO yes, I am HUGELY disappointed. I arrived at my house in tears yesterday, with visions of my wedding being flushed down the toilet. There are all million thoughts running through my head and emotions pumping though my body. I don't know what to do. There are so many variables that come into play that it is hard to make any sort of decision. Luckily I have my husband and my parents and my friends who can help me see straight and make a well-thought out plan. Although I am very logical, when things are emotional (and weddings are HIGHLY emotional), I do what my gut says and I take no pity on those in my path. Whether or not that is the right thing to do, that is how I work. Luckily I kept my composure very well yesterday and didn't say anything. I think I was in shock. I couldn't really even react.

And I wouldn't call this post a reaction either, more just an explanation of what is going on right now...and perhaps a call for advice from my few friends who read my blog. I will not publically go into more details as I don't think I should speak too soon about my choice, or what I think my work will decide. I just had to get a little bit off my chest.

Two & a half years....

...together with the love of my life!!!

FELIZ ANIVERSARIO DE POLOLEO MI AMOR!!!!

Yes, we celebrate two anniversaries each month--that of our pololeo and that of our civil marriage. Come June, the anniversary of pololeo will be another marriage anniversary!


Te amo con todo mi corazón y no puedo esperar casarme contigo de nuevo :)

Star Spotting!

Guess who just happened to be walking down my street today with his black & white dog and a bodyguard-looking guy?

(source)

Chilean super-star hottie Mario Guerrero!

I couldn't decide whether I should say HI or just do nothing--I mean, we were walking towards each other and at first I wasn't sure if it was him--but in the end, I decided to just smile. He smiled back.

(source)

Just thought I'd share!

Which is your favorite?

My husband shot some pics of me this weekend before the carrete (party) that we had last night at our place. Which is your favorite?

Love Will Prevail

This brought tears to my eyes. As if it weren't enough to take away their right to marry, now they are trying to divorce all of the gay couples who were married between May and November. Please sign the Courage Campaign and help fight against the injustice. Just look at how happy these families are...how could you (being the pro-Prop 8 people) take that happiness away from them?! What kind of people are you? What sort of values do you have? You make me sick to my stomach.

Love will prevail. I have faith in the non-discriminating people. The people who understand the beauty in love, no matter what your gender, color of skin or beliefs. You don't have to agree with being gay, but you don't have the right to take away their possibility to experience the same civil rights that you do. Even for the most conservative and religious people---have you never heard of the saying "hate the sin, love the sinner"? And what about the separation of church and state? Leave religious beliefs out of the picture and let everyone get married.

Please, please, please sign the Courage Campaign. And then let everyone you know about it.

Longing for this....

This morning I read this article on the NYtimes.com about how the last Balenchine dancer, Darci Kistler, will be retiring in the 2010 season. Every time I read something about dance, I feel a tug on heart strings, I feel like I'm not doing what I was meant to...I become sad because I am my happiest when I am dancing. It's always been that way....even before I was in dance classes.

Sometimes I wish I would have just said screw studying the "safe" subject (ie. accounting) and go study dance and see where I would have ended up. In Chile? I doubt it. Married to Christian? Probably not. Well I definitely would not take back meeting and marrying him for the life of me....but I do wish with all my alma (soul) that I could spend my day dancing. Hell, I'd even be happy with taking a few classes a week, but right now that just isn't going to happen--there isn't the extra money and definitely no time between working full-time and wedding planning full-time. Plus I have found it extremely difficult to find a good school here in Chile, that has adult classes, that isn't just "baile entretenido" (wtf is that anyway?), and that isn't during the day when normal people are working. I did dance for a few months when I lived in Viña and it was amazing to be back in ballet and actually perform in the Municipal Theatre. But I haven't danced since May (when my university dance class ended) and it is definitely taking its toll on me. I need dance to live, it is what feeds my soul.

A dream forever mine....