Mrs. Toucan, Boston
Age and Occupation: 25, Full-time Research Assistant, Part-time Graduate Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Actuary
Engagement Date: February 18, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: November 07, 2007
Venue: St. Catherine of Genoa, Jin Asian Cuisine Restaurant
About Me: I’m a Gemini to the extreme. On one side, I’m a girly girl. I read countless bridal and fashion magazines, and have an obsession with keeping up with the latest Hollywood gossip. On the other side, I’m a sports fanatic. Despite being a full-time bride-to be, full-time research assistant, and part-time student, I’m also a full-time Red Sox fan from spring training to October, and a full-time Patriots fan from mini-camp to February. I devote almost as much time researching my for fantasy football team as researching for our wedding!
I’m Baaaaaaaaack!
January 8th, 2008 @ 1:25 pm by Mrs. Toucan
… after traveling for 24 hours on the LONGEST.DAY.EVER. (We left Bangkok in the morning and because of the time difference arrived in New York the “same day”), I’m back from vacation!
Despite being the longest vacation that I’ve ever taken - 2 weeks (including travel time) in Hong Kong and Bangkok- it still flew by waaaay too quickly! I haven’t downloaded my Bangkok pictures yet, so for now, I will leave you with some of the highlights of Hong Kong (click to enlarge):
Row 1: Dim sum! (yum!), Riding the a Hong Kong double-decker trolley
Row 2: The Toucan kids taking the Central to Mid-Levels Escalator
Row 3: Enjoying famously delicious milk tea at Lan Fong Yuen, Hong Kong city views from the top of Victoria Peak
I’m Leaving On A Jet Plane
December 21st, 2007 @ 3:33 pm by Mrs. Toucan
I’ll be back in a couple weeks though. 
I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday, and a fantastic new year!
Spreading The News
December 18th, 2007 @ 2:09 pm by Mrs. Toucan
A few weeks after our engagement, I brought Mr. Toucan with me to New York to meet the extended family (dun dun dun!), and to “announce” our engagement (everyone already knew via email, but this time it was in person). In six years of dating, Mr. Toucan had met very few of my relatives since most of them live in New York. Needless to say, he was nervous. He was afraid he’d embarrass himself. As it turns out, I was the one that should have been more prepared for this trip!
I didn’t think news of our engagement would be such a big deal. While I expected my relatives to be excited for us, I didn’t expect them to be THAT excited. They were SO excited, that within 30 minutes of arriving to my aunt’s house, I somehow ended up in this:
Me in a Chinese wedding kwa taken by my dad’s cellphone camera
(as a side note, this picture is now my dad’s cellphone background - I replaced a picture of a roast pig…)
Starbucks Sale!
December 15th, 2007 @ 11:55 am by Mrs. Toucan
Just in case any of you are Starbucks crazies like me, there’s a sale this weekend!
Bah, Humbug!
December 12th, 2007 @ 6:18 pm by Mrs. Toucan
I’m usually one of those crazy Christmas loving people. You know, one of the people who blast their Christmas music as soon as they finish eating their Thanksgiving dinner, or one of those crazy shoppers up at the ass crack of dawn to go shopping on Black Friday for the perfect gift for everyone on their list.This year, I can’t help feeling like an Ebenezer Scrooge.
This Christmas, Mr. Toucan and I decided we won’t be giving each other gifts. With all the stuff we have to buy for the wedding, we thought we’d just end up buying each other stuff we didn’t “need.” However, I’m starting to feel a little sad about our agreement of no gifts this year. On message boards everywhere and on BeeTV, everyone’s talking about what they are getting their FI/hubby. I feel so anti-Christmas!
E-Pics - Baby It’s Cold Outside
December 10th, 2007 @ 12:10 pm by Mrs. Toucan
A few weeks ago, Mr. Toucan and I wandered around the streets of Boston’s North End during our engagement photo session with our photographer, Robert Mirani. I’m not sure what possessed us to take pictures in 30 degree weather (brr!), but now that we have our photos, I think the cold was well worth it! Plus, the cold gave us a great excuse to huddle really close together!
(I’ve got my love to keep me warm)
Leafy Votive Follow-Up
December 6th, 2007 @ 9:29 am by Mrs. Toucan
Awhile ago, I wrote about the leafy votive candle holders I made for my co-worker, Samantha’s wedding. Sam and I both agreed with most of your comments about how the simpler option (no bow or knot) looked the best. After all, sometimes less is more!
The Things You Do For Each Other
December 5th, 2007 @ 11:30 am by Mrs. Toucan
Ever since moving into the city, Mr. Toucan’s been bugging me to take a Women’s self-defense class. I finally agreed because he guilt tripped me into it by say some of the following:
“I worry about you when you walk home from school at night. It would make me feel better.”
“What would I do if something happened to you?”
“Please, do it for me?”
“You will never have to buy me another gift ever again if you do this.”
Kinda sweet, huh? Since he was so adamant about me going to class, AND sent me a link to sign up for a Rape Aggression and Defense class offered by my school, I signed up.
I pretty much complain all the time about having to go to class because it’s at an awkward time (for me anyway), and it’s my 3rd class in so many days during the week. However, the class itself is rather fun. Once you get over the yelling, “No!” all the time out loud in front of the class, it’s quite enjoyable. Because women are generally smaller and weaker than men, the objective of the class is to learn how to maximize women’s strength when fighting off an attacker.
Who’s Planning The Honeymoon?
December 4th, 2007 @ 3:45 pm by Mrs. Toucan
Like most grooms, Mr. Toucan has let me make most of our wedding decisions. He’s watched me get crazy obsessive over color schemes, centerpieces, and much, much more. The one thing Mr. Toucan DOES want a say in, is the honeymoon. We discussed for a long time where we wanted to go, and it always came back to Italy (the one place I’ve ALWAYS wanted to go).
Though I’m usually the one that plans our vacations, Mr. Toucan has decided plan this particular trip. With him planning and researching the whole trip, there’s still a small element of surprise in it for me!
Who’s planning (planned) your honeymoon?
Cost-Cutting Tip: Helping Hands
December 3rd, 2007 @ 4:57 pm by Mrs. Toucan
One of the cost-cutting tips that I’ve read thousands of times in bridal magazines and bridal books is to have talented friends and family help you with various parts of your wedding instead of hiring a professional to do it. I always thought, “Great tip. I don’t know anyone in the wedding industry. This tip totally doesn’t help me.”
It turns out, that I was wrong! Mr. Toucan and I have been pleasantly surprised at how talented our family and friends are! I completely forgot that my uncle (my mom’s side) in Hong Kong owns a silk floral factory. He’ll be making our centerpieces for our banquet tables. Additionally, my aunt (my dad’s side), for a hobby took up floral design, and has offered to do our floral arrangements for our church ceremony, as well as bouquets and boutonnières! Between the two of them, we have no need to hire a florist!
Recently, one of Mr. Toucan’s friends also agreed to make our wedding cake for us! She took a cake decorating class a couple of years ago for fun, and got quite good at it! I knew wedding cakes were expensive, but after doing some research, it really surprised me how really expensive they could get. Even after buying all the supplies for her, we’d still be saving a ton of money!
Do you have any friends or family working on wedding-related projects for you?
