Get to Know the ELF!

I'm not talking about a Christmas elf, though it could be just as exciting!

For the wedding, I hired a woman named Bev Kaneshige to do my hair and makeup. I found her through a reference, and I thought she was phenomenal! When she finished with my trial the day before the wedding, Jim looked at me and said, "You need to do your makeup like that everyday!" Geez, thanks, honey! But, truthfully, I am attempting this very difficult task.

Anyway, she said that one of her secrets was using E.L.F.

ELF stands for Eyes Lips and Face. It is a makeup company that sells products SUPER CHEAP!! And, I figured, if it was good enough for a professional makeup artist (who also works with a lot of pageant girls and TV anchors), if my hubby likes it, AND it saves us money, WHY AM I NOT USING IT?

OH, I forgot to mention, most things cost $1.

Wh-wh-what? Eyelashes, eye shadow, eyeliner, bronzer, blush, lipstick, nail polish... all cost just a dollar. Mineral make up is a little more, but it's like $2.

I ordered mine online and am so happy. I feel like this is the best makeup tip of the year, and that's saying a lot because I'm a dedicated MAC user. It's worth a shot. Worse comes to worse, you lose $5... let me know if you try it out!

Don't be a Trick this Halloween

I have to say this because a group of girlfriends of mine just had this conversation.

What's up with Halloween costumes these days?

Halloween is a fun time to dress up, regardless if you're a kid. But what's up with it now being an excuse to be ridiculously underdressed?

"This year, I was thinking about being sexy Freddy Krueger." HUH?

Hey ladies, do me a favor this Halloween, keep your clothes on!

I don't get it. I never thought it was a good idea to be sexy anything for Halloween. WEIRD. Besides, it's cold... and there are several other ways to impress someone without being naked.

This cracks me up!!!

Thanks to my friend Aleah, I have a new yearbook picture. I love this!! I laughed...then I laughed some more. And now, I'm wondering how I can grow out a fro.

Finally, the end of the wedding!

courtesy Dave S. via phone

A big thank you to everyone who showed up at our wedding reception Saturday night! We had a little bit of a stressful beginning (100 RSVPs but 164 showed up! Yikes...), but everyone was so calm... and the staff at Mille's was on top of it. THANK YOU!

Also a big thank you to the person/people who ANONYMOUSLY donated several hundred dollars to help with our bill. Wh-wh-what? Jim tried to get it out of the person in charge. She said, "Listen, I've been doing this for 10 years, and I've never seen anyone do that." We were shocked, floored, and grateful. Wow!! Unbelievable. How will we ever find out????

We had a great time. It was wonderful. We have such great people in our new family... Jim's family is awesome (uh, hello...did you see the dance floor??) And, thanks to Mama and Papa Bear Sherwood for helping us throw a great bash. Without them, we would have had a pony keg and a small get-together in our backyard!

We wish we could've talked to everyone longer, but man... mingling is a full-time job. We had no idea how busy we'd be talking to everyone... and we didn't even get to everyone! Nuts! We felt so blessed to have so many of our good friends and family around.

OH, and the Allie Catz were awesome! If you ever want a good band, you must hire them. They were fabulous! Everyone kept talking about how wonderful they were. We were so impressed. Thanks guys!

Jeffrey Sweet was also our photographer. He was working his tail off!! When we get our pictures, we'll post them up here for our friends to see... but until then, enjoy the few we got from our friend, Tracy (who also just got engaged...yea!!)

My college friends surprised me... they made me sing our old KU karaoke staple: "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles. Yes, this did happen. Thank goodness, it was later in the night. Embarrassing!

Some of my best girl friends from KU. I can't believe they made the trip! A big honor to have these busy girls there...

Mark Your Calendars: October 21st

Anyone who's anyone will be at The Coffee Ethic on Tuesday, October 21st. It's SKINGO! (Skinny Improv, The Coffee Ethic, & Swagbot Bingo)

Sneak Peak at our professional pics...

Thanks!!

Our living room looks so messy, and we love it. We have been so blessed to have such great friends and family who've sent us a wedding gift. We registered, but we weren't really expecting to get gifts, and we didn't really want them... because it seems like such an odd thing to ask for presents (which again, we're not.) Of course, we're really enjoying them, so we need to tell our peeps thanks!

*I'm about a week behind on thank you cards. I'm still on Hawaii time. (How long can I use that excuse?)

Also, we had a little surprise last night. It is so disgusting. We found a mouse in Jim's suitcase. He scurried off under our fridge. I thought we both were going to barf. I wonder where he came from? I swear we're not dirty; I think he was just a little field mouse or something. :(

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Just wanted to send a shout out to my grandma. Her birthday was yesterday, and I sent her flowers.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Michelle Davidson Gets Baked, Sort of

Someone sent this to me the other day. I thought I would share: it's former Contact KY3 reporter Michelle Davidson!

Not only has she been busy baking up a storm on the small screen, apparently she's been busy whipping up some rhubarb pie as well. Check it out! I say she should come back here and show us her baking skills!

WE'RE HOME!! The honeymoon is over...

• We made it back safely yesterday afternoon.
• We slept on the plane thanks to some wonderful prescription drugs (written just for the trip...highly recommended)
• We went to dinner on the southside.
• We watched The Soup.
• We couldn't go to bed until 1:30 a.m., which was 8:30 p.m. Hawaii time.
• We're are back at work Monday morning.

Poser: Looking like a Local is Awesome.

OH, aside from the previous post, I want to add one more thing about Hawaii. Jim and I were talking about this today...

On at least three separate occasions TODAY, someone asked me if I was a local girl. I love it!! Jim and I were remarking how everyone here thinks I'm a local... though NO ONE in Missouri thinks that I'm a local (of the show me state, that is.) PS--What does that look like anyway? Do I really want to ask what a local of the Ozarks is supposed to look like?

Not that it's a big deal... but a friend of mine (Asian descent) once said that I had to go to Hawaii because it's one of the few places in the world where Asian Americans feel like they fit in. (Take note, adoption schpeel coming...)

It's true.

In Hawaii, you can be just about anything (small, big, brown, not brown) and still fit in. That is the Aloha way. On the mainland, you'll get a "What are you?" from the "whities"... and from the Asians, you'll get a, "what are you? Korean? Chinese? Is your daddy white? Why don't you speak Korean very well?" And, if you tell them you're adopted, it's practically shameful!

I met a Korean lady at the Kihei market today, and she gave me the Korean discount on some flowers... but aside from that, everyone here is one in the same. I love it. It's the first time someone thought I just fit in with the area! Even in Korea, people can tell right away that I'm a "Miguk Yoja"... American girl (which is fine...because I am... but c'mon, can't a girl go incognito sometime?)

Anyway, like I said before, one reason Jim and I decided to get married in Honolulu.

Cool.

We're gaining weight like it's our jobs.

Jim's sleeping, and I'm bored (Hawaii-time is five hours earlier than central.) We rushed back from dinner, where Jim ate a one-pound burrito. Now he's snoring, and I have nothing to do but update my blog. Our little TV only gets one station on a good day... and I'm tired of watching the highlights of the debate online.

Anyway, we had a very interesting day. It didn't start out well. Jim accidentally deleted all of the videos we made during our trip... he was a little perturbed because he said he lost all of the videos we were going to show our kids. How sweet...but oh well.

Then, in a bold and scary move, we decided to go our separate ways...

At least, across Maui.

Jim wanted to go to the beach to body surf... I wanted to get out of the sun to go shopping. Hello, anyone ever heard of The Shops at Wailea? Tiffany...St John...BCBG... I like to call it heaven, though I didn't buy anything (translation: couldn't afford anything.) Even though I really liked a diamond ring that was half off (only $1800!) Jim about soiled his pants when I told him I bought it. Kidding, honey~

Anyway, we keep eating our way through Hawaii. And it shows. I'm too tired to re-blog about it, so you can read about my thigh misfortune on the buff brides blog.

Tomorrow I'm going to go deep sea fishing for the first time. This company was recommended by a local guy... we go bottom fishing for smaller fish (like grouper) and we troll for big game fish (like mahi mahi, tuna, and marlin.) Cross your fingers for me. I hope I catch a big one... because truth be told--if I catch a big one and can stuff it, it's coming home for the wall. I'd trade that for a diamond ring any day. My dad would be so proud.

On the road to Hana: we even bought a self-guided CD. Highly recommended.

Eating sweet, sweet corn on the road to Hana. Also highly recommended. Try with lime.

Swapping secrets with the locals.

Food coma. Who cares about some stinking road to some place.