Mrs. 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.
Mr. HC wasn’t the only one who walked off with a prize after the door games, I got a BRAND NEW CAR.
Okay, I didn’t. Actually I got a brand new groom, complete with the giant red bow. (What did you think this was, “My Super Sweet Sixteen”?!)
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Mrs. 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.
Hey, hive! {Insert embarrassed wave.} Remember me? My name is Mrs. Hot Cocoa, and I used to blog here. {Insert embarrassed grimace face.} I’ve been slacking off a bit, but now I’m back and ready to continue recapping. For real. {Putting on serious blogging face.}
Let’s see when I last left off, Team 愛-Vey and I had just finished getting prettified. With our game faces on, it was time for… well, game time.
In our room, Hottest Sister Cocoa, the head gamesmistress, pulled the ladies together for one last strategy session. Meanwhile, in the groom’s room, Mr. HC and his team listened intently as my Uncle Robert schooled them on the awful fate that awaited them.
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Mrs. 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.
I’ll let you in on a little secret: Mr. HC has a serious case of POFAD (”put off for another day”) syndrome. Two months after our wedding, he still hasn’t sent out his thank you notes yet! Oy.
But when he finally gets around to doing it, he’ll have these three designs to choose from:
For our wedding, I’d Goccoed tags with “thanks” in English, Chinese, and Hebrew to attach to our favors.
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Mrs. 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.
Just thought I’d pass along the info that One Kings Lane — the Gilt Groupe of home decor — is having a sale on Mindy Weiss’s line of wedding-related accessories. Everything looks to be between 50-75% off the retail price.
To tell you the truth, I’d never purchase any of these items for full price (what am I going to do with a “newlyweds” door mat?!). But 50% off? I love a good sale!
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Mrs. 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.
Last night, the Boston bees descended on Radius in the Financial District. The usual bar crowd — guys doing post-work drinks in corporate uniforms — didn’t know what hit them.
Check out the hotties! These bees bring all the boys to the yard.
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Mrs. 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.
There are certain moments in life that, try as I might to recall them in color, appear in my mind’s eye only in black and white.
This was one of them: my fingers trrrrrembling as I put on my earrings, my grandmother looking on with such pride and love, my best friends and sisters excitedly milling about as we waited for the knock on the door that would signal the arrival of the groom’s party and the “official” start of our wedding day…
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Mrs. 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.
This weekend the Hot Cocoas racked up 500 miles on a rental car, squeezed our butts into two very uncomfortably seats on one wee little plane, got about 8 hours of sleep, attended two weddings in two countries, and picked up one diploma.
And I’m glad to report that we’re still married!
We started our adventure in Far Hills, New Jersey, where we celebrated the wedding of our friends Kim and Dan. They were wed under a gorgeous, rustic dogwood chuppah, which was set up along the banks of a babbling brook on the grounds of Kim’s family farm. The scene was straight out of Anne of Green Gables; the meadow couldn’t be any greener, the waters more sparkling, and the bride and groom more radiant.
My favorite wedding detail was their paper goods:
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Mrs. 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.
Since about half of our guests were coming in from out of town, and traveling from locales as far-flung as Hong Kong, London, Montreal, and the Hague, we wanted to kick off our wedding weekend with a shindig to welcome our out-of-town guests and to keep their bellies full and spirits up.
And what better place for MIL and FIL Hot Cocoa to host an Asian fusion welcome dinner than the mecca of California Asian fusion cuisine, Chinois on Main?
Photo Source
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Mrs. 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.
愛-vey indeed. We’ve reached the point in our relationship about which I’ve long been anxious. This is the part where I recap our wedding, which thereby necessitates my putting up a lot of pictures of myself, which leads to my feeling like one of those parents who keeps spamming their friends with an endless stream of photos of their baby. Baby smiling. Baby drooling. Baby pooping. You get the idea.
Of course, there’s no way around it. So I promise you this: funny captions will be added, embarrassing expressions will be uncensored, and much hilarity will ensue. That’s right. It’s going to be a stream of hilarity. Mrs. HC smiling. Mrs. HC drooling. Mrs. HC… uh, nevermind.
Let’s just start, shall we?
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Mrs. 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.
Dear dissertation committee:
I regret to inform you that I did not get much done on my dissertation this semester. Lest you think I have just been sitting at home watching “The Real Housewives of New York City”, I would like to let you know that I wrote a book; I’ve titled it “my wedding program”.
Will that count toward the completion of my degree?
Sincerely yours,
Ms. Hot Cocoa
Photo credit: Leigh Miller Photography, Luna Photography, & Della Chen Photography
Our programs were a labor of love (or maybe just laborious) but so important to us for two reasons: first, we worked hard to make our ceremony into an expression of our personal cultures and histories and of our combined Chewishness, and we wanted to share with our guests the significance of the rituals; and second, since we had a number of guests (including my grandparents) who didn’t speak or read English, we wanted to have a trilingual program (English, Chinese, and some Hebrew) so that all of our guests would feel included.
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Mrs. Hot Cocoa
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