8.23.2009

A Bee's Life: Flamingo Edition

Being a graphic designer, its a given that the computer is my best friend. Ask me what I can't live without? I would say the Computer/Internet... hey, its a combo, one can't live without the other... ;) Call it an addiction or just plain curiosity but I'm always online searching the net, sharing cool sites all of that. Little did I know about blogging though.

How my Blogging obsession began: (2006)
I had heard about it from another designer friend and was really interested by this whole concept. He had a really cool personal blog sharing some personal stuff... and it got me thinking, "hmm I wonder if people would read my blog" intrigued and of course willing to spend a couple more hours on a computer a day... I decided to start my own blog.

I was debating at first if I would go the personal or more general route... and decided to give the personal approach a try. So I blogged about me, (still hesitate on who would actually read my blog) but I did it, shared personal and professional experiences. I did it for a couple of months but felt something was lacking. I decided to take the plunge and abandon my old blog (about me) to start a new one. One about weddings in general. Since I had been engaged for over a year, I was right in the planning and what better way to share my knowledge with others. Hence that's when Glamour This! was born.

How I found the Hive of awesomeness:
Since I was blogging about weddings, posting about inspiration boards, themes, dresses... I became an avid reader of many wedding blogs DIY Bride, Style Me Pretty, Something Old Something New, Perfect Bound, Eco-Chic Weddings (that I would literally type in their URL in 5 times a day cuz Google Reader wasn't introduced yet... could you even believe that!!!) So when I saw several of my fave bloggers posted about being featured on Weddingbee... I clicked on the link... and that's when my life was over, and the obsession began.

Applying to Weddingbee (September 2007)
I couldn't believe I hadn't found this site before... all the time I spent online and never came across this goldmine. I was impressed about all the different brides blogging about their planning, DIY projects and more. It was a whole new world for me... and like many of yous, I would refresh my page a good 15 times a day (no joke)

Blogging was my way of talking about wedding stuff without having my family and friends sigh every two minutes because they were fed-up hearing about the dresses, the colors, the theme... you get the point. Since majority of the brides (at the time I started reading WB )were from the States (with the exception of Pumpkin) I thought I would send in my application and hope I'd be accepted and become another Canadian Bee.

Obviously I didn't have a personal wedding blog... but submitted my Glamour This! blog in my application. Ya, not the best idea. I received an email from Mrs.Bee saying that she really liked my current blog, but since WB was about blogging on a personal level, she wanted me to write up a few posts to see if I would be WB material ;) So I created a new blog just for Weddingbee. I was dedicated and wanted this so bad.

After a week of personal wedding posts... I received the email that changed my life. (I know it sounds cheesy - but I swear its true) I got accepted to become a BEE. I couldn't really share the news with my family and friends... because no one had a clue what I was talking about... but that didn't matter. I GOT ACCEPTED TO BE A BEE... was introduced on October 26th and started blogging officially on October 27th 2007.


Why the pink bird?
When I was given the choice to choose an icon only a few birds were left in the pile, amongst them was the Flamingo. Mrs.Bee had told me I could wait for the next generation of icons (desserts) but that would mean I would only start blogging after the new year. Um... there was no way I could wait that long, are you kidding me. I was more excited than a kid in a candy store. Plus... looking at the flamingo put a smile on my face. It reminded me of 2 things: Pink being by far my favorite color and just the whole story behind searching for Flamingos in Cuba when they were in our hotel all along. So it was perfect for me, um I mean us :)

Bee Blogging advice:
Blogging is like anything in life, represent yourself, blog about the "real you "and not someone you think people will like. Don't loose yourself in what you see out there in the blog-o-sphere. Of course there will be prettier DIY projects, cooler invitation designs... but that doesn't mean yours aren't awesome. Respect your wedding, your budget and stop comparing apple with pears.

Also when writing posts... know that people are visual and love pictures. Now that doesn't mean you need to put in as many pictures as you can (relevant or not) but know that breaking long posts with imagery helps the flow of the post more (obviously ... do not use this post as an example)

Lastly, never give up. Some applications are accepted first time around, others after 3 tries... there's really no winning recipe. You simply need to find your blogging voice and speak it loud and clear :)

Why I heart WB more than I do chocolate:
Weddingbee has held my sanity together throughout the wedding planning. Fellow Bees and readers have given the best advice and ongoing support when I needed it the most. Plus this has become my second family and even though I've only met 3 bees, I feel like I have a connection with many of them. I've even extended this connection and made awesome friendships and talk to these bees on a regular basis.

What I love the most about being an old bee, is that I have seen Weddingbee grow. So many changes in the last 2 years. Addition of boards, WB pro, WB TV, the new WB look... all these little features that seem indispensable... weren't always there. Way to go WB!!! Keep the awesomeness coming.


Life after Weddingbee:
Obviously I'll stick around as long as I can, heck I've been married 15 months, haven't completed my recaps, plus I find reasons to blog, lurk the boards and comment. I heart Weddingbee and to be honest thinking about my goodbye post or what will be the official reason for the separation scares me. So I stick around... and hope you don't mind. Lets just say I'm not ready to say goodbye just yet ;)

If you want to know about what's going on in my crazy life... you can follow me on Twitter, or read my blog: www.glamourthis.com (soon to be revamped) with all my adventures of being a new home owner.

Thank you for reading my posts, commenting, giving your advice and just being there.
xox
Flamingo

8.12.2009

Glamnuptials : Our Minimoon

WOW, I'm almost at the end of my recap posts and I've been married over a year. Can you believe its been a that long since I got married!!! Time flies. I know, I know I can all hear you say, "its about time those recaps are done!" LOL I admit, it took me forever.


We when were planning our wedding, the honeymoon was something that was rather important (to me at least)... a getaway after the whole 1 year and a half of planning. Unfortunately, we soon realized that things were rather expensive... and the honeymoon was put on hold.

Originally when we would talk about honeymoon destinations, Mr.Flamingo and I weren't on the same page. He wanted Disney, I wanted Italy/Paris. Then it switched, since I knew we wouldn't agree on a place... we considered going down south, but we abandoned all those ideas and figured a minimoon was a better option. So right after the wedding... we packed our bags, fill the tank and drove to my favorite city NYC!


Not having lots of money to invest in our trip, we used Priceline to book our hotel in Jersey. It was our first time using this site and we were quite happy about the price and hotel.

The view of Manhattan from our room

Yup I even brought our laptop so that I can blog while we were away.

Very comfy bed...

Every morning we would grab a chai latte at starbucks (which happened to be in the hotel lobby - isnt that amazing!!! ) and would take the shuttle to the train station. It was my first time taking the train to Penn station but other than getting lost a couple of times we finally got the hang of it ;)




As a wedding gift, we received a brand new Samsung NV24HD digital camera from work and we were so excited to put our new camera to good use. We took lots of pictures on the first day but when it came time to recharge the battery... oops there was a problem. It wasn't charging - a defect in the battery. So you know what that means...we didnt take pics of our other days in NYC... what a shame.

But at least we caught this on camera.


We visited the famous Madame Tussaud. I've been to NYC at least 5 times and never got the chance to check out the famous wax museum... we seriously had a blast.



Of course Mr.Flamingo needed to take a picture with his favorite superhero... sometimes I seriously think he would love to be Clark Kent. lol

I, on the other hand need to take a pic with my girl power chicas! I almost look like Geri Haliwells replacement... almost. So, Mr.F felt he needed to be part of something too... so Nsync was his choice of the hour.

We absoultely wanted to see a Broadway show (even though Mr.Flamingo is french) our first choice was Wicked, but tickets were sold out and decided to see The Mel Brooks musical The Young Frankenstein.

This is the only proof we were at a broadway show. No pictures allowed so before they confiscated our camera we put it away. We seriously LOVED it... to the point that its going to be on our "must" list next time around.


The rest of our stay we did lots of walking and continued to visit places. We even got the chance to meet Mrs. Bee, Mr. and Mrs. Pumpkin and Mrs. Lovebird for a nice meal at the Spice Market in the Meatpacking District.

Can't wait to go to NYC again, hopefully I'll meet even more bees. (Thats the funnest part - I find)


Up next: La Bosse Des Noces (us on TV) ...

——————–
Previously:
Glamnuptials: Beauty Time
Glamnuptials: Prep Time
Glamnuptials: Our details

Glamnuptials: Ceremony Part 1
Glamnuptials: Ceremony Part 2
Glamnuptials: Bride Posing
Glamnuptials: Groom Posing
Glamnuptials: Strike the pose Part 1
Glamnuptials: Strike the pose Part 2
Glamnuptials: The Newlyweds
Glamnuptials: We are Family
Glamnuptials: The first dance
Glamnuptials: Toast time a lot of tears
Glamnuptials: Boogie on Down
Glamnuptials: 3,2,1 and Catch!
Glamnuptials: The Favors
Glamnuptials: Le Gâteau
Glamnuptials: The Guestbook
Glamnuptials: Decor Elements
Glamnuptials: Giving our gifts
Glamnuptials: DAS aka Day after Shoot
Glamnuptials: Wedding Movie Trailer
Glamnuptials: Real Wedding Inspiration Board
Glamnuptials: The REAL Budget











8.11.2009

Glamnuptials: The favors

When we were planning our wedding, the favors had been the subject of quite a big debate. We knew we wanted to offer a donation to the Quebec Breast Cancer Association, but felt that our guests needed to leave with something as well. We wanted to offer something glamorous and these beautiful imported Italian Sparkling Water bottles were just what we were looking for.

We created little cards and DIY pink ribbons with the mention that a donation was made in memory of my grandmother and in honor of my mother, who is a proud survivor. My mother felt so touched by the gesture.

We put all the bottles in a nice design pattern and placed some centerpieces at the end of the table to tie everything in. Plus I had received this awesome Pottern Barn Vintage Movie Projector as a gift and it added that touch of movie our favor table was lacking.


The guests loved our favors and still talk about them today… some even shed some tears! I'm glad we gave back to a cause that was important to the both of us... and hopefully one day, our contribution will have paid off.


Up next: The Mini Moon..


Images taken by Ipi-events
——————–
Previously:
Glamnuptials: Beauty Time
Glamnuptials: Prep Time
Glamnuptials: Our details

Glamnuptials: Ceremony Part 1
Glamnuptials: Ceremony Part 2
Glamnuptials: Bride Posing
Glamnuptials: Groom Posing
Glamnuptials: Strike the pose Part 1
Glamnuptials: Strike the pose Part 2
Glamnuptials: The Newlyweds
Glamnuptials: We are Family
Glamnuptials: The first dance
Glamnuptials: Toast time a lot of tears
Glamnuptials: Boogie on Down
Glamnuptials: 3,2,1 and Catch!
Glamnuptials: Le Gâteau
Glamnuptials: The Guestbook
Glamnuptials: Decor Elements
Glamnuptials: Giving our gifts
Glamnuptials: DAS aka Day after Shoot
Glamnuptials: Wedding Movie Trailer
Glamnuptials: Real Wedding Inspiration Board
Glamnuptials: The REAL Budget