obsessed

with this site.

chill & BE HAPPY

Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold. — Judith Olney

kinda like sliced bread?

one of the coolest things since... google maps?

geez. stop sweatin mah steez!

ok. i know. there's a reason why i was influenced to choose the wedding colors i chose but only cuz i liked the combo, and not cuz everyone and their mother was sweating it!!



styleguide.com.au



marthastewart.com/weddings



http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Navigation/Women.jsp

sneak peak...shhh!!!

quick lunch break and found the one accessory to complete my wedding ensemble:
{i'm THAT excited that I have to show the world one month out}

star struck

even though i've talked to him, have the cell number for his manager and can email him at a moments notice, i am still star struck by him and the fact that he was part of our film festival in May.

eerie that i'm watching his 'exit' episode -- but i still will follow his career and can see him going far.

it's 2:00 am - do you know where your children are?

it's as if my parents are away for the weekend and i'm pulling a 'Risky Business' kind of night.

2:35 am to be exact and i'm chilling on my recliner bed doing more wedding stuff on thE computer while observing what Soul Train was like circa "JAMES INGRAHAM!" -- (...who?)

there WERE a lot more white people on ST back in the day; observation #2: everyone's all covered up!

tired.

well, it's ALMOST my birthday?

yes, i'm getting married. yes, we just bought a new condo. yes, i'm not broke but close to it after paying the bills. but heck - i'm forgoing my birthday this year (well, we'll be in costa rica on our honeymoon, but STILL!) and in honor of me turning 29 in 6 weeks...



and guess how much these all cost?

So you think you can dance?

hitting home.

Nearly 1/2 of New Jersey' 6,000 members of the National Guard left for Iraq last month.

Bill Moyers Journal

Back to school!

{ or at least I wish I was. }

evidence that 18 months is too long to have a planner:


(yes, those are staples holding together the back flap in my moleskine.)


(hopefully by the 2nd to last week of 2008, I won't have to look at this page.)

Though 1 thing I do love is that within these 18 months of planning contain the 18 craziest months of my entire 28 3/4 years on this planet.

HAPPY BACK TO SCHOOL & HAPPY FRIDAY!

i knew it was worth it to stay tuned last night

left my heart in Minneapolis

Yum.


and yum.

Ethnic communities and enclaves are staples in many American states and cities. But Minnesota's cultural identity, which has been shaped by multiple refugee movements from Africa and Asia, is particularly unique. We talk with active members of Minnesota's Somali and Hmong communities, both of which have grown out of political strife on other continents.

this is my jam.

i love my body.

forget starving myself for the next two months:

"Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it." - YSL

52 days and counting!

can't wait

the funniest letter I've ever read

original

Dearest Auntie Flo,

I am sorry, but you are not invited to our wedding. I know how much we both enjoy our monthly visits together—even though you have been giving me horrible bloating and cramps lately. Mr. Cookie and I have a love/hate relationship with you! Every time you come to visit, Mr. Cookie has to rub my belly and says I become very irritable. :( But we both like that your visit indicates we will not be welcoming newly baked cookies to the family, just yet!

Recently, it seems like you keep pushing back your monthly visit. Your September visit is nudging closer and closer to our wedding date. I apologize, but during our wedding I just cannot accommodate your demands. Having my bridesmaid lift up my wedding dress, while I try to change a tampon, is just not an experience that I want to share with them. I also want my hormones at a steady level; I am already going to be emotional as is! In addition, Mr. Cookie and I would also like to get to know one another, in the biblical sense, if you know what I mean. ;) We just can’t do “it” with you coming between us.

So, for the sake of our wedded bliss, can you please schedule your visit before the wedding? By your November visit, I will have beautiful pictures of the wedding to show you.

It would be ever so helpful for you to comply with my demand! Even though your visit will not to be able to ruin our wedding day, I prefer that you not attend.

Hope to see you earlier rather than later.

new chooz?

it's a good day. i teenk i deesirve new chooz. (or a bag...whichever!)


HIIIIIIIIIIIINT!

one of each please?

lately, one of my favorite style of heel {if/when i DO wear them}

can my smile get any bigger?

+ new cupcake joint only .8 miles away
+ the dress is here! but shhh, it's still a secret!
+ 360 days of engagement down, 73 to go!

well, ok these are kind of minor things but huge in my world today. :)

oh Ken!

currently infatuated:

just glowing.

a little token of my appreciation...to be continued.


beautiful Gatsby's all dressed up in yellow


one of my favorite details of the day: "A little birdie told me..."


my wonderful bridesmaids all dolled up!


a shower-take on 'musical chairs' - 'yes, it is a belt!'


the bella of the ball


auntie ioana and isabella (2.0)


me in my purdy chair


bella loves to play 'family' with us


surrounded by love


'surprise!'


beautiful sunflowers for our mamas


the gift of moi


hmmm, so who's next?

if you move here, they will come

well, they probably decided to come before we bought our condo but it feels nice knowing there are these little crafty nooks in my hood.

View Larger Map

was this only 10 days ago?

when it rains, it pours.

my bridal shower happening in a few days and as excited as I am, can't help but be overwhelmed by the emotions running through my heart.

perhaps it's a blessing in disguise that i didn't make it down to DC tonight.

it's been a long time

since I actually 'liked' a commercial.

(this one made me excited in that 'back to school shopping' kind of way)



too bad this no longer applies to moi.

accessed: DENIED

go to work early.
handle long directors meeting.
work work work.
prep for staff wide planning meeting.
rush to penn station for 4:30 train to DC.
screening to start at 7pm.
5:30 - still waiting in NYC on train tracks.
voltage failure.
cancelled appearance at event.
get off train.
swim through disgruntled NJ Transit customers.
arrive at port authority to the pangs of unidentified fire alarms.
delays on bus platform.
wait wait wait.
home.sweet.home

that was a whole lot to happen in a matter of a day.
feel dumb but i have no one to blame but an overloaded transit system.

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD...

life still does not suck compared to the feelings i hold in my heart. {SIGH}

ouch.

there are many things in life where i've choosen the simple route - career, fashion, makeup... no.big.deal - right?

well this wedding is...well...to put it nicely...getting a little too much for me to handle. it's not that i don't feel the love and support of everyone around me, but i'm realizing too that this wedding is not only a big deal to the both of us, but to the rest of our families and friends. and while i do aim to please, i'm not just considering what i'm about to suggest b/c i want it to be the affair of the century.

it's because, last night, yet again...he asked me if i was enjoying this engagement period, and to be totally honest folks, there aren't enough hours in the day, days in the week to get through all the stuff that needs to be taken care of, get through the first 365 days of my still 'new' job (very a la 'first 100' for politicians), stay on top of finances and taking care of our new home, supporting him in all of his professional and academic endeavors, attend to my parents extended need (now that i'm no longer living under their roof...) sorry that this list is getting long, but you can tell from this how draining it's been for me as of late.

and so this morning, while finishing the last few steps to my 4th floor walk up office, i realized how blessed, honored, supported and loved i am and that while i will do my best to suck it up, and appreciate all that's been given to us these last few years, that this is the one time for me to take a step back, do for 'moi' and lose some control over these plans and consider asking for more help - family, professional etc.

this post actually started off w/ my possible announcement of considering hiring a 'day of' coordinator for the wedding. however, five paragraphs later, what seems to be of more importance is to put Him in charge of a lot more than i can even fathom to handle at this junction in my lfe. it's been more than silly of me to think that ALL-OF-THIS (picture me making a big O w/ my arms) is under my control, my jurisdiction, my careful hand.

so as of today, less than 3 months before the wedding, i'm going to savor every last moment of this engagement like it was the last piece of chocolate in the pack and continue to be tickled and satiated by the yumminess that this time has brought me in my life.

mary JB always says it the best...it'll be just fine.



{thank you ladies and gentlemen for letting me voice this long stare in the mirror.}

UPDATE: boo...

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Christine XXXX
To: maiaermita@yahoo.com
Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 11:42:52 AM
Subject: Re: 10/17/2008: FORM RESPONSE

Hi Maia,

We're unfortunately unavailable.

Best Wishes,
EAP Inc.

...back to the drawing board.

tick tock tick tock

mem-reeeees...

saw an ex-boyfriend from high school while out to lunch w/ some co-workers today.
realized this while talking to current boyfriend on the mobile.

good times.

copy cat

look who copied the colors of our wedding...



biters!

biters.

Bon Chon Chicken (KOREA)



{equals}

Lechon Manok (PHILIPPINES)



---

still, finger lickin' good tho.

running on HIGH

bummed that i fell asleep w/ the TV, oscillating + ceiling fan running all night. :(
thrilled that I made my own concoction of 24 oz. of homemade iced coffee. :)

still on a high from all the good times spent w/ family last week.


{ more to come soonish... }

The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. - Alan Chalmers

o to the m to the g

95 days til the wedding.

official shat.

i'll see you all again in November.


...

vacation recap to come.

officially, we're homeowners!

been waiting for this day my whole young-adult life.
{too bad I was drugged up on claritin D and non-caffeinated tea during our closing}
this was probably a good thing, otherwise i'd have been dancing on top of the attorney's conference room table.

WOOHOOOO

officially, an adult.

i've slowly been unsubscribing from a lot of newsletters and discount deals which used to give me convenient but unnecessary excuses to do a lot of frivolous shopping. this last one was a hard one to give up, but cannot recall the last time i've even stepped into an H&M just to browse the lucrative sales rack.

we're closing on our condo on Monday - thus, unless it's socks or underwear, i no longer have an urge or reason to buy frivolous things if only to keep me warm in -20 degree weather, or some kind of revolutionary fabric to protect me from the depleting ozone layer with cotton that contains SPF 1000.

congrats to us, but sorry wardrobe...you'll have to love me as I am [for now].

PS - in the meantime, i find this fashion blog (where i won't be shopping) to be quite helpful in rethinking the clothes I already have.

early present to me

Marriage is one long conversation, chequered by disputes... But in the intervals, almost unconsciously, and with no desire to shine, the whole material of life is turned over and over ideas are struck out and shared, the two persons more and more adapt their notions one to suit the other, and in process of time, without sound of trumpet, they conduct each other into new worlds of thoughts.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

totally forgot i bought this a year ago as an 'early' birthday gift to me.

so sue me!

just a lil preoccupied still

will be trying my hardest to digitize and upload this photo slideshow of my lola's 87th birthday this year. {watching this w/ my mother in my non AC bedroom Sunday night and holding her as she cried again is the moment that replays in my heart every time i'm tempted to be mad with her.}

August 2000

Found this little cheat sheet, given to me by my sister-in-law back in August 2000 on the verge of her marriage to my oldest brother. While it brought me back, way back...to think of what I was like and what 'love' meant to me back then, I fast forward to the present and throw and overflowing embrace around all that my life is this moment.






Hope you enjoyed that Back To The Future moment as much as I did.

usually i can handle it

it's been a busy few weeks in my world and i'm craving mundanity right now.

I'm here in minneapolis for a conference i've been kinda craving for the last few years of my young career.

Despite the exhaustion, this food is making me sooooo happy right now -- and note, the yellow fruit w/ my meal.



I shall spend the duration of my evening prepping for my short presentation Saturday afternoon.


PS - I can't ignore the amazing indian buffet for lunch yesterday either - only to be completed by an amazing lassi.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood.

In an act of refusal to enter the mall mecca of Northern NJ, I vowed to honor only local businesses for a cute + nice 'light' shopping day for moi:

+ C&B fruit bowl | $5


+ charming glass thinggy | $2


+ dark denim iceberg chaqueta | $3


+ lemony mini chairs | $5


+ BW tea party skirt | $5


+ white leather bench | $5


+ DVF dress (possible wed.shower dress?) | {shhh...}


+ a whole sunny afternoon with nothing to do with work, and everything to do with what makes me happy | priceless!