Liz and I started an exercise "boot camp" this past Monday. It's held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in downtown L.A. Two of Liz's bridesmaids are also participating in the boot camp.
Classes are every Monday evening, Wednesday evening, and Saturday morning. The boot camp lasts for six weeks; Liz and I will miss the last two weeks because we'll be on our honeymoon :)
After our second class tonight, I'm pretty wiped out. Our instructor wears a military-type jersey and an army hat. He makes people do 25 push-ups if they are late to the class, don't follow his instructions, or forget other students' names. He's tough.
I hope the rigors of being an exercise grunt are worth it! I've done one spin class in my life, and had a couple of sessions from a personal trainer. Other than that, I've never done any sort of organized exercise class before, and have always done running and weights on my own.
My goal is to lose a couple of inches from my tummy. The pants on the tuxedo I bought a couple of months ago are too tight :( So I either have to trim my love handles, or get my tuxedo pants let out. Either way, with only 30 days until the wedding, it's literally crunch time.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Our Last Anniversary as an Unmarried Couple
Last evening Liz and I celebrated the two-year anniversary of our first date. We went to Ortolan, a top-rated French restaurant in Los Angeles. The chef at Ortolan is Christophe Émé, who also owns the restaurant together with his partner, actress Jeri Ryan.
Both Liz and I enjoyed a sumptuous eight-course tasting. Preceding the tasting was a champagne toast and a flavorful amuse bouche served in test tubes, including a black truffle concoction. Liz's favorite course was the beef carpaccio served on top of cucumber gelee, and mine was the foie gras dunked in mushroom soup. I got the wine pairing for my tasting as well, and thoroughly appreciated all of the selections provided by the sommelier.
The service from everyone at the restaurant was impeccable, and we enjoyed the French accents of our waiter and the sommelier. Also, the decor was very romantic. I took particular note of the high-backed booth we were seated at, which gave us a feeling of intimate seclusion.
When I made the reservation, I let the restaurant know that it was a special occasion, and we were appreciative of the attention that the staff gave us, such as congratulating us on our anniversary. But we were surprised when at the end of our meal, our waiter delivered a complimentary collection of desserts, including a blow-your-mind rum cake and a "happy anniversary" placard made of chocolate (sorry for the darkness of the photo). And this was in addition to the assortment of chocolate wonders that came with the tasting!
All in all, the restaurant and its staff provided us with an experience that lived up to its Michelin rating. Soon Liz and I will have a new anniversary to celebrate, and we look forward to more experiences like the one we had last night!
Both Liz and I enjoyed a sumptuous eight-course tasting. Preceding the tasting was a champagne toast and a flavorful amuse bouche served in test tubes, including a black truffle concoction. Liz's favorite course was the beef carpaccio served on top of cucumber gelee, and mine was the foie gras dunked in mushroom soup. I got the wine pairing for my tasting as well, and thoroughly appreciated all of the selections provided by the sommelier.
The service from everyone at the restaurant was impeccable, and we enjoyed the French accents of our waiter and the sommelier. Also, the decor was very romantic. I took particular note of the high-backed booth we were seated at, which gave us a feeling of intimate seclusion.
When I made the reservation, I let the restaurant know that it was a special occasion, and we were appreciative of the attention that the staff gave us, such as congratulating us on our anniversary. But we were surprised when at the end of our meal, our waiter delivered a complimentary collection of desserts, including a blow-your-mind rum cake and a "happy anniversary" placard made of chocolate (sorry for the darkness of the photo). And this was in addition to the assortment of chocolate wonders that came with the tasting!
All in all, the restaurant and its staff provided us with an experience that lived up to its Michelin rating. Soon Liz and I will have a new anniversary to celebrate, and we look forward to more experiences like the one we had last night!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Our Wedding Shower
We wanted to thank our friends and family who made our wedding shower a special occasion for Liz and me. We especially want to express our gratitude to the organizers of the shower, including the maid of honor, the other bridesmaids, the best man and the other groomsmen, and our friends Max and Mari. Also, a big thank you to Sue for taking photos and making these wonderful collages.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Wedding Invitation
Here's a photo of our wedding invitation (sorry for the blocked out text!). We think it turned out quite well!
We have an extremely large amount of appreciation for our letter press saint, Cristiana, who designed the invitation and also produced it. I really like the Lego elements in the heart :)
We've received a lot of support from friends and family during the wedding planning process. It's heartening to have this support, and makes us excited for the future.
We have an extremely large amount of appreciation for our letter press saint, Cristiana, who designed the invitation and also produced it. I really like the Lego elements in the heart :)
We've received a lot of support from friends and family during the wedding planning process. It's heartening to have this support, and makes us excited for the future.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Adventures in Babysitting
Today Liz and I babysit our friends’ nine-month year old baby boy. We were there for about four hours this afternoon. It was my first time babysitting ever, and I was struck by three things. The first is a reminder of how soft a baby’s head is!
The second is how much work raising a baby must be. I have many friends who have children and I have an abstract sense of how much effort being a parent takes, but taking care of a baby by ourselves, even for only four hours, allowed me for the first time to get a first-hand sense of what it takes. Both Liz and I were pretty spent after we finished our shift (although we love the baby and enjoyed spending time with him very much). We changed the baby’s diaper twice, fed him three times, put him down for a nap, and took him for a stroll around the block, plus the constant watching of him when he was playing with his toys. It was a lot different than when I volunteered during high school one day a week at a daycare center, where all I had to do was pick up babies when they started crying.
The most stressful moment was after we fed him the first time. After he was done eating, we put him on the ground and he resumed playing with his toys. But after a few minutes, he started making little crying sounds. I picked him up and rocked him a little, which quieted him down, but when I put him down again, he started crying again, not bawling, but small crying sounds. It was very difficult seeing his eyes fill with water, with a tear streaking his cute face, as he looked at me expectantly. He must have assumed that I knew what was wrong with him, and that I would fix it.
But after a while, he realized I didn’t know what was wrong, and he started crying a lot. It was a little bit scary because we weren’t sure whether something was really wrong. Finally we checked his diaper, and we realized we needed to change him.
The third thing I was struck by was how well Liz attended to the baby. She seemed like a natural, for example, when she patiently fed him with spoons of carrot sauce, with much of it ending up on his face and bib. Looking back at this afternoon, I can see us raising our own baby, and visualize how great of a parent Liz will be. It makes me look forward even more to starting a family with her.
All in all, it was a busy but rewarding afternoon and we had a wonderful time babysitting our friends’ baby!
The second is how much work raising a baby must be. I have many friends who have children and I have an abstract sense of how much effort being a parent takes, but taking care of a baby by ourselves, even for only four hours, allowed me for the first time to get a first-hand sense of what it takes. Both Liz and I were pretty spent after we finished our shift (although we love the baby and enjoyed spending time with him very much). We changed the baby’s diaper twice, fed him three times, put him down for a nap, and took him for a stroll around the block, plus the constant watching of him when he was playing with his toys. It was a lot different than when I volunteered during high school one day a week at a daycare center, where all I had to do was pick up babies when they started crying.
The most stressful moment was after we fed him the first time. After he was done eating, we put him on the ground and he resumed playing with his toys. But after a few minutes, he started making little crying sounds. I picked him up and rocked him a little, which quieted him down, but when I put him down again, he started crying again, not bawling, but small crying sounds. It was very difficult seeing his eyes fill with water, with a tear streaking his cute face, as he looked at me expectantly. He must have assumed that I knew what was wrong with him, and that I would fix it.
But after a while, he realized I didn’t know what was wrong, and he started crying a lot. It was a little bit scary because we weren’t sure whether something was really wrong. Finally we checked his diaper, and we realized we needed to change him.
The third thing I was struck by was how well Liz attended to the baby. She seemed like a natural, for example, when she patiently fed him with spoons of carrot sauce, with much of it ending up on his face and bib. Looking back at this afternoon, I can see us raising our own baby, and visualize how great of a parent Liz will be. It makes me look forward even more to starting a family with her.
All in all, it was a busy but rewarding afternoon and we had a wonderful time babysitting our friends’ baby!
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