Miss Hot Cocoa, Boston/Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 31, JD/PhD Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, Medical Student
Engagement Date: May 30, 2008
Wedding Date: March, 2009
Blogging Since: April, 2008
Venue: Ritz Carlton, Marina Del Rey
About Me:
I am a professional student by day and an amateur cupcake taster, bargain shopper, and wedding planner by night. I am obsessed with NPR, the Food Network, paper, dance shows, Anthropologie, post-structuralist theory, Weddingbee!, "The Office," and celebrity gossip. When not procrastinating from my dissertation, I spend time catering to Jellyby, our overly anxious shih tzu, and getting to know Mr. Hot Cocoa. We have only been dating for fifteen years, so it's like I'm in love with a stranger! From the East Coast, we are planning a Jewish-Chinese Extravaganza in L.A., where we both grew up.
Sample Sale Sites
August 28th, 2008 @ 11:00 am by Miss Hot Cocoa
[Barbara Kruger, Untitled (I Shop Therefore I Am), 1987.]
Attention fellow shopaholics: I posted previously about websites where you can find couture bridal gown bargains and sample sales. Here are a few non-bridal-specific sites that you might enjoy!
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You Can’t Get Away From Me This Time, Badgley Mischka!
August 27th, 2008 @ 11:27 am by Miss Hot Cocoa
Look, Mark Badgley and James Mischka, I wasn’t mad at you when you chose the Olsen twins for your ad campaign, even though I told you—nay, insisted —that I was available. I understand your decision; they are, after all, style icons to the bag lady set. No, I wasn’t mad at you even when they showed up with walk-of-shame makeup and Bellatrix Lestrange hair that even your team of crack stylists couldn’t fix.
And I have forgiven you for the time you put me in this dress—holy Martha Stewart, what’s with those love handles?—that made me look like a sausage. A sausage in an overpriced—albeit sumptuously embellished—silk casing:
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Style Inspirations
August 26th, 2008 @ 10:59 am by Miss Hot Cocoa
Dear Rebecca Thuss,
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Shopping for a Photographer
August 23rd, 2008 @ 2:06 pm by Miss Hot Cocoa
I am, if I do say so myself, a very efficient shopper. You can count on me to zoom past the racks of schmatas guaranteed to make me look like the third Olsen twin (triplet?), locate the handful of items worthy of stripping down to my skivvies in a Loehmann’s fitting room for, and zone in on the one flirty number that is just right in style and price. And, unlike Mr. HC, who takes 3 hours to buy a pair of khakis, I can usually do this in less time than it probably took for us to find parking.
Paper Couture
August 22nd, 2008 @ 1:45 pm by Miss Hot Cocoa
Today I’ve been a very lazy Haute Cocoa. I meant to post on finding an eco-conscious ring, but with the typhoon warning here in Hong Kong and my impending departure (lots of goodies to pack), I just couldn’t manage to put together a research-intensive post. As an apology, I bring you something perhaps even better — something that combines all three of my material loves (don’t pout, Mr. HC): paper, couture, and bargains.
The Creature Comforts blog — always a great source of style and design — brought to my attention a fun and fabulous freebie from Hermes.
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What’s Your Flavor?
August 20th, 2008 @ 4:00 pm by Miss Hot Cocoa
A friend of mine reports that at a bridal shower this weekend, they played a fun little icebreaker inspired in part by my post on bridal party invitations. Since this is the first time I’ve inspired anything other than complete and utter chaos, I am feeling very self-congratulatory. Woo hoo!
You might remember that I gave our bridal party a bottle of Soy Vay as “a little flavor of our wedding”:
Bridal Red: Qua or Qipao
August 19th, 2008 @ 1:29 pm by Miss Hot Cocoa
I was psyched when I found a — no, the — dress for our wedding — ivory, lace, train, the works. But apparently one dress is not good enough for a Chinese wedding. My mom (in the voice reserved for things of monumental importance) demands at least 3 dresses: a “western” bridal gown, a Chinese qua or qipao, and an evening gown. Apparently (”There are rules! Rules!”) not only does custom dictate how many dresses one must change into (some brides go for as many as 7!), it also dictates when one must change into these getups, as well as what type of jewelry goes with each outfit. There goes my dream of sashaying about in my Monique Lhuillier all night. I’m going to spend all night changing from one outfit to another.
[What Hong Kong looks like from a cab after a loooong day of wedding shopping.]
Oh well. No use whining when one could be out shopping. So this week, Hot Mama Cocoa, Sister HC, and I have been hitting the very hot pavement in Hong Kong in search of my Chinese outfit.
(M)engagement Rings?
August 16th, 2008 @ 6:04 pm by Miss Hot Cocoa
Some of you might have noticed while reading the Hot Cocoa engagement story post that there are two rings in this photo: an engagement ring on my finger (yes, that Oompa Loompa set of appendages does belong to me, not a four-year-old gnome child) and a band on Mr. Hot Cocoa’s finger. Do not adjust your browsers. That shiny washer on Mr. HC’s digit is, indeed, an engagement ring. From me. To him.
When we started talking about getting engaged and going through the process of selecting a pretty bauble for my finger, I started feeling somewhat sad for Mr. HC that he wouldn’t get some shiny thing of his own. Why shouldn’t he have a token of my commitment and love too? And truthfully, Little Miss Snarky (my bad, bad alter ego) also thought that it seemed unfair that I should have to be “marked” as off-the-market, while Mr. HC gets to sally forth unchanged.
“and yes I said yes I will Yes” - Part II
August 15th, 2008 @ 1:08 pm by Miss Hot Cocoa
For those of you kind enough to be following the Hot Cocoas’ engagement story, you’ll remember that after a close run-in with Canadian immigration, we landed in Prince Edward Island, the destination of my surprise 31st birthday trip. P.E.I.’s tourism industry is centered around Anne of Green Gables. But while quite a bit of it is faux-Avonlea (complete with a faux village in which tourists sporting faux-Anne braids interact with faux-Annes, Dianas, and Gilberts), it’s also a real maritime province — rustic, charming, authentic:
“and yes, I said yes, I will Yes”
August 14th, 2008 @ 2:59 pm by Miss Hot Cocoa
I’ve been so busy blogging about our wedding plans that I’ve completely neglected to share the story of how this whole thing began — with a surprise proposal that was every bit as thoughtful, creative, and hilarious as the man who planned it.
When I turned 30 last year, Mr. HC and I didn’t do very much to celebrate; the day before my birthday, he took the grueling Step 1 of the medical board exams, and on my birthday, we found out that one of our dearest friends was diagnosed with cancer. So for my 31st birthday, Mr. HC suggested we make up for the previous year by taking a weekend trip somewhere. Up until the week before, though, he kept telling me that he hadn’t made any plans and that we’d probably end up just going someplace nearby, like Provincetown, MA. But a few days before my birthday, Mr. HC’s cousins emailed me and “accidentally” told me that we’d be seeing them that weekend in Toronto. I thought I was super clever and had figured out his secret plan.
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