My work colleagues, Heather and Steve, and I feel we've done some of the best painting we've ever done for the Hastings Ranch store in Pasadena. They decided to go with an "Old World" theme, kind of collage-y, kind of steam punk. This really hit home for me - I was in my element!
You can see all of the work the three of us did on my Flickr page.
all I can really say is that is was perfect! You can tell by the photos (I'm pretty sure) just how delieriously happy I was, and am!!
Marty with his brothers
Me with all of the daughters
The happy couple
We had a wonderful dinner with our families. My sister, Kimberly, did all of the decorating herself, including making my bouquet and arranging all of the centerpieces. It was beautiful.
My groom surprised me with the best wedding cake ever. It is a "permanent" cake made by mosaic artist Katherine England.
It was the most lovely day a girl could ever ask for. Everyone had a great time, especially the bride and groom. It was so wonderful for both of our families to be all together enjoying our special day. We'll remember it always.
Counting down the days till my wedding. Marty and I are both really so excited, we can't wait for the day to be here. I have been crazy busy with getting ready. Everything is very close to being done, just have to finish the bracelet that I'm making to wear.
This will be my last post as a single woman. I hope to have wedding pictures very quickly but it'll have to wait until after the honeymoon.
Last weekend my sister Kimberley surprised me (big time) with a fun-filled day and bachlorette party!. It was such a blast. First she took me to the Burke Williams day spa for massages and facials, so relaxing and wonderful! Then a sushi dinner where I was completely surprised to see family and friends there to help celebrate.
My sister MADE me the most awesome cake. It totally blew me away, I couldn't believe she made it herself. It was a fabulous Nightmare Before Christmas cake!!!!
The fun didn't stop there, next we did some celebrating at dueling piano bar. It was super fun and involved dancing, laughing and a little tequilla. There are pictures of this part too but i haven't seen them yet and frankly, I'm a little scared. We had wat too much fun.
All of this was a surprise, everyone was in on it and I had no idea. My girls had evidently been at my house earlier and picked out clothes for me to change into after the spa. Good job girls! Kimberley did an amazing job planning all of this and treating me like a queen. Thanks Sis!
That's all for now - next time you hear from me I'll be Mrs. Reichman!
My wedding is now only 21 days away. It is getting more and more exciting as the days tick off the calendar. My dress is almost done, just a little more beading to do on the top. Marty got his tuxedo yesterday - it took him a whole 30 minutes to complete the task. Shesh! Totally not fair.
The biggest news is that our wedding rings are done! They were made by master "stuffsmith" Keith Lo Bue . I'm so excited I can barely stand it. I'm delighted that Keith had the time and was willing to do this for us, and I'm even more delighted to be able to wear this ring for the rest of my life.
My ring
Marty"s ring
I am waiting for the actual rings to be shipped, but the pictures are exactly what I wanted and more. Can't wait to see the real things. Check out Keiths's blog to see his latest AMAZING pieces and the story behind the work.
I spent this last weekend at my mom's house - the whole weekend - working on my wedding dress. I had been putting it off and decided that marathon, no interuptions, sewing was the way to go. I had already made a practice version out of muslin so I was ready to dive into the real thing.
Off white dupioni silk . . . it's so gorgeous! Nice and crisp and perfect for the style I choose. A top from one pattern and a skirt from another, an antique crystal broach used for a belt buckle, and my mom's fantastic help. She was right there the whole time as I sewed, fitting numerous times, pressing, adding her expertise from a lifetime of sewing on the finer points of garment making. I couldn't have gotten so much done without her. I wish I had a picture to show of my mom but she was acting as the photographer too.
I got it all finished!! Well, it still needs to be hemed after I get my shoes, and I'm trying to decide how to add some beading to the little collar, but I feel really good about how it came out. Just what I wanted. I won't show it till the big day (so you'll have to stay tuned) but it won't be long, just about 30 days. Wow.
Last Friday myself and the two other regional artists that I work with, Steve and Heather, had to drive to the Hastings Ranch Trader Joe's (near Pasadena) to install a 32' mural. We did it all in cut out pieces at our home store in Irvine and put it together on site. I'm really proud of how nice it came out. The three of us really work well together, we all get along great and inspire each other.
Here is Steve getting started with a background layer.
Heather and Steve on top of the dairy case installing the pieces. I had the super hard job of going "a little to the left . . . a little to the right."
The finished mural
Happy artists after a long days work
Here are some pictures of a mural I painted for Classic Barbers in Fullerton, Ca. It's a really cool, "old school" type of barber shop that recently opened on Commenwealth in downtown Fullerton.
So if you need a good haircut or straight razor shave in a cool and comfortable, hip setting see...
Jessie, or
Chris
