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"Cournel" Engagement

Tina here~

 

You want to see a charming definition of LOVE?   

Having known Courtney for almost a decade now and meeting Lionel a couple years ago, I can't express how happy I am that they have decided to take it to the next level. They get along so well together that it's inevitable they have a strong friendship and bond of love with each other.  

I know for Lionel (and like any other guy out there), this was a nerve-wrecking moment.  But he was also confident that it was time and he couldn't have been more right.  

 

A family photo shoot = the perfect proposal 

 

I advised him that if he ever got nervous at any moment before the proposal, to look into Skunk's eyes so his fears will calm its way back to normal. I mean. I guess you gotta know Skunk that way-he has that certain affect on people. :P

Congratulations to my dear friend and C&C “pea-partner” in crime Courtney & her new fiancé Lionel. Court, lesdodis!!  And thanks L, for letting me be a part of the behind the scene planning.  ;)   In Courtney's words: "God Speed!"

 

 

** Props to Letlove Photography for capturing such stunning photos of the newly engaged. With every photo shoot, you continue to climb your way up and show your top-notch skills.  I’m proud of you Let!

A Sweet Baby Shower

…And we’re back!

From being on vacation mode, to jet-lag, to starting up 2 (so far) scheduled weddings for 2011, we clearly have minded our business away from our C&C blog. Forgiven?  Sweet!!

 

In the midst of my return from the Philippines in February, I came home just in time to help celebrate a friend’s baby shower.  It being her second child, second baby girl, Natalie was not planning on having this shower. But after some convincing from her Auntie Jen, I hopped on the baby wagon to help out.  We’re so glad we were able to throw Nat this baby shower, because she got all she needed to re-stock her newborn pantry with baby essentials, such as diapers, wipes, soft & cuddly blankeys, more diapers, shampoo, ointments, powder, bottles, gift cards to Target, and oh, have I mentioned…more diapers?!  Perfect for a baby sister who gets all of Audrey’s hand-me downs & more.  One day, Nat had shown me Audrey’s tubs of clothes all organized by age, and also let me gawk over Audrey’s closet.  Talk about a fashionista who still had tags on almost half of her clothes! It was incredible.  So Nat didn’t even register, instead we mentioned on the invite that the baby essentials such as the above would greatly be appreciated. 

 

While planning for the shower, I thought it’d be a great idea for C&C to add a special touch.  Why not a dessert/candy bar, right?  I thought to myself, “Well I can only bake so much.” I decided that I can handle the cupcakes and rice krispies myself.  But I decided to call on one of our Preferred Vendor for some help.  Doreen Torres of locally owned Sweet Little Cookie was so helpful in providing some of her own insights of her more popular cookies.  So I went with the delicious, “heaven in your mouth” Powdered Angels, and the “sweet as it sounds” Candy Cookie.  Perfect choices I have to agree!  What was so great was that she delivered these to my front door the morning of the shower. 

 



Some other cravings I had in this Sweet Tooth buffet were chocolate cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing, Hershey Kisses, Rice Krispies treats, pink swirl lollipops, and the famous Conti Polvoron straight from Manila, Philippines.  Everything was a hit and sure hit the sweet spot in everyone’s tummy!

 

As of now, my dear friend Natalie still has not popped out baby #2 yet. We patiently await the arrival of baby girl A, and pray for a beautiful & healthy delivery.

 

PS. Stay tuned for some exciting news!!  “Pea”, take it away. :)

Happy New Year...from C&C

Wanted to share something that I thought was worth sharing.  Here's to your own creative recipe. 

New Years Recipe
 
Take twelve whole months,
Clean them thoroughly of all bitterness, hate, and jealousy,
Make them just as fresh and clean as possible.
 
Now cut each month into twenty-eight, thirty, or
thirty-one different parts,
but don't make up the whole batch at once.
Prepare it one day at a time out of these ingredients.
 
Mix well into each day one part of faith,
one part of patience, one part of courage,
and one part of work.
 
Add to each day one part of hope,
faithfulness, generosity, and kindness.
Blend with one part prayer,
one part meditation, and one good deed.
Season the whole with a dash of good spirits,
a sprinkle of fun, a pinch of play,
and a cupful of good humor.
 
Pour all of this into a vessel of love.
Cook thoroughly over radiant joy,
garnish with a smile,
and serve with quietness, unselfishness,
and cheerfulness.
 
You're bound to have a Happy New Year.
 
Author Unknown

Author Unknown

~Merry Holidays~

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all

 

It gets so busy during this time of year.  From last minute trips, to the start of shopping the day after Thanksgiving (or the night of). And then there's attending company work dinners and meetings or social parties, to wrapping presents and mailing out holiday cards. To scheduling family and friends' dinners and gift exchanges, driving from one destination to another...and another.  To finally putting your feet up with some delicious eggnog (or Pinot), and listening to some soft Christmas tunes, while exhaling out a sigh of relief that you made it through another year...only to repeat itself for the following year but promising to make some changes (for the better).  We're all guilty of it and have confessed that we will be better at sticking to our New Year's resolution(s) or else!  But that's no excuse to put off a post.  So here I type...

 

In a business perspective, it's been a good year of changes, life-learning experiences, decisions and soul-searching, challenges for the better, and motivational pushes from others. As the saying goes..."work hard to play hard."  And indeed we worked hard to play a lil' here and there.  Although there's always more work to be done, always more room for improvement, we're ready for it.  And yes, it's harder than we thought.  But on a personal level, 2010 has finally helped me build on my character and seek out as to where I want to be and who I want to become. This has increased my self-esteem and to believe that anything is possible and I can do it all if I take that leap forward without any fear, any hesitation...and that's also making sure I live up toward my "DECADE OF DESTINY".

 

We've got a few couples lined up for next year, and aiming to help with more. We're hoping to climb up the ladder of self-fulfillment and success within this business and within ourselves.

 

To end, C&C Engagements wishes you much love and success in 2011. Here's to good cheer, good laughter, good company, good health, and good riddance to a decent 2010 (because in reality, we're ready to trek forward & live in 2011).  Here we go...

 

Cheers!

Happy Holidays!

Sweet Little Cookie

We had attended a beautiful wedding in October and found the delicious bagged cookie favors to be homemade locally by a company called Sweet Little Cookie.  So I contacted her a couple weeks later to ask a few basic questions to post on our blog site. 


Photo Courtesy of SweetLittleCookie.com


From baking to a stay at home mom and wife, Doreen Huezo shares her story and advice on how she started her own cookie business. 

When did you first know that baking was not only a hobby for you but a business you wanted to take to a higher level? 

Well, I've been baking for several years and I've always loved it.  I would bake for friends and family and they always thought I should sell them. But I had a 9 to 5 job, had been working at the same title company for 10 years so the thought was never taken seriously, until I was laid off in February of 2008. The real estate market turned on me and I was devastated, not knowing how we were going to pay our bills. But that's when the thought of selling my cookies became a reality and starting my own cookie baking company became my new venture.  What better time to give it a try, right?  I launched SweetLittleCookie.com in May 2008 and couldn't be happier that I did.

What is your favorite cookie?

That's tough...it changes from day to day.  I guess it depends on what mood I'm in.  But lately, it's been the White Chocolate Macadamia....so yummy! :)

What is the biggest order you’ve ever had? 

A Staples Office Supply in Northern California ordered 50 dozen cookies for a grand opening/customer appreciation event they were having.  It took me all day (literally) to complete the order, but it felt great to know I could do it.

What is your most popular cookie? 

My Perfectly Sweet Chocolate Chip, without a doubt. 


Photo Courtesy of SweetLittleCookie.com

Where is the farthest you’ve ever had to mail cookies to?

To Afghanistan, a couple of times actually.  I receive orders from women who have husbands stationed out there and want to send them a little bit of home :)

What do you like to do when you have some free time from baking? 

Spend quality time with my husband and three kids.  We have a 15 year old son, a 4 year old daughter and a baby boy who's turning 1 in December.  Needless to say, there's never a dull moment.  We have a ton of fun together. 

What have you learned about having your own business? 

Honestly, it's tougher than I thought it would be.  It's extremely rewarding, yet very time consuming.  Some times I feel like the business owns me, not the other way around.  I guess it's because I thrive on customer service and the only way I'm going to offer an awesome product with exceptional service is to give it my all, which in turn means giving up much of my personal time.  But again, it's so rewarding and I LOVE what I do.  When I send out cookies to a soldier overseas or to a mother who just had a baby or to an 8 year old who just had knee surgery and is stuck in bed, I feel like my cookies are making that sweet little difference in their lives. And that makes it SO worth it.

What is one advice you can give others who wish to start their own business? 

Do your homework before getting started.  Find out if there's local competition, if your business would thrive in your area and if you're able to commit full time.  Having this knowledge before getting started can save you a tremendous amount of heartache and frustration.  It can also help make you the best business owner ever.

Accessorize Me Part II: Hair Accessories

For my second segment of the "Accessorize Me" posts, I wanted to go further more into the hair piece selection(s) for a wedding.  Since the 1st segment touched up on Veils, here are some wonderful inputs on other hair accessory selections from some of my girlfriends.

As we all know and can agree on, aside from the jewelry that's chosen, a bride's hair piece is one of the finishing touches to add hints of glamour and unique taste to the full ensemble of the wedding day look. There are so many choices, but keep in mind that you also want to make sure your hair accessory will go with your hairstyle.  So usually, selecting the right hair accessory is no easy task. 

You can as bold with your selection

 

Photo Courtesy from www.etsy.com (seller: Pegasusmaiden) 

...or as clean and priceless as a beautiful, fresh flower.

 

Photo Courtesy from Steve Maller Photography

Take my BFF Lileth for instance.  To match her tropical Costa Rican wedding, she went with a white stargazer lily that matched perfectly with  her bird cage veil. Not only is it one of her most loved flowers, but it matched her white color theme they had chosen. She quoted, "The smell of the flower is sweet and dreamy. It's simple but beautiful."  And she's totally right. According to my online resource, the stargazer lilies are young, delicate bold, beautiful and fragrant all at once, bringing a meaning of wealth and prosperity. 

Some people may be allergic to fresh flowers (poor things) and must go the alternate "fake" route.  Thankfully not allergic to flowers, Arvie chose to wear a simple ivory faux flower from a seller on Etsy.

It was hand cut and made with silk dupioni and silk organza, swarovski crystals, coque feathers, and glass beads. It just added such an elegant touch to this already beautiful bride.

Now if you want to save some money and create something straight from the heart, do what my cousin-in-law Myrene did.  She took a pearl button (which matched her jewelry), and bought white silk flowers from Michael's Crafts.   

She wrapped the comb clip using floral tape and glued it on the back of the flower, attached the pearl button and presto, her very own handmade flower hair piece.  And to my surprise she also made the girls' hair piece too but used different buttons.

Perhaps flowers aren't your thing and you'd prefer to leave them as your centerpeice or as your hand bouquet.  Some brides will opt for a hair pin(s) instead. My friend Karen decided to wear these Tinsel Topper Hair Pins she found at Anthropologie as her "something blue".

 

The petals were white while the center was blue crystals. 

Below, Aimee chose the butterfly tiara purchased on Bridal People.  Her tiara definitely tied in the butterfly theme they had going from their wedding invitations, wedding programs and wedding cake.  It was small and simple.

And speaking of tiaras, I can't complete this post without mentioning what I used for my hair accessory.  I always knew I wanted to have a princess look for my special day. So the very first thing I bought soon right after I got engaged was my tiara.  With my MOH's right beside me, I purchased a Rhinestone and Pearl Filigree Bridal Tiara from the Jessica McClintock Outlet store in SF.  It has an open back, featuring a silver frame covered with clear Swarovski rhinestones and pearls. 

 

I'm hoping to pass this down and have it be used as a family heirloom for generations to come. 

One last addition I didn't want to forget were these super incredible Head Vines.

 

Photo Courtesy of Tiger Lilly Jewelry     

Their adaptibility lets you create your own style and can be placed anywhere around your bridal hairstyle. I guess you can say it's a cross between a flexible tiara, headband, and a pin. Check out Tiger Lilly Jewelry's one-of-a-kind selection.  

 

Photo Courtesy of Tiger Lilly Jewelry   

Here are a few other websites I found to be helpful in providing high-quality and modern hair accessories:  

Hair Comes The Bride: Location: Southern California / Providing exceptional service (hair and make-up), while giving brides-to-be different ideas and tips. If you don't want to overwhelm yourself with too many options, definitely visit this site.  

Perfect Details: Location: Burlingame, CA / "From Demure to dramatic, this season's bridal hair accessories add sparkle and shine to any hairstyle and wedding day look."

Etsy:  Anything you find on here is a great find.  The selections can go on and on…                

 

Good luck ladies!