The Chinese Dress

Check! This is probably the task that was completed the quickest thanks to my mother. (Delegation is a beautiful thing!) She's been keeping an eye out for dresses, in particular the Chinese kind (qipao or cheongsam, I think it's called) for me. The other day she presented a few business cards of the places that she visited and liked. I didn't think much of them but today we decided to go check them out in Chinatown. (man, I couldn't help but notice how touristy everything is now) The first place I walked through by myself, since we agreed to meet there and I was very early. The ppl kept asking if I needed any help but since I had no idea what I was supposed to look for (does it have to be red or have the dragon and phoenix on it?), I kept saying no. I must've walked the store three times through (they have a lot of knick knacks too) while waiting for her so the workers must've thought I was acting suspiciously (not everything that they sell requires a lookover) so they kept following me. That was pretty irritating and weird and I ended up buying a little white bag that I thought I could use as a bridal purse or something. I now have buyer's remorse b/c I think the bag is too white and I don't like how they charged me more than the bag is really worth (it's a very simple design and I heard them say 'oh how much should I charge her'). Anyway, when my mother finally showed up, we went through a couple of their dresses and she said there should a dragon/phoenix on it and it'd be best if it were red). I tried on the only one that they had with the dragon and phoenix and it was quite fugly. It looked like it was more suited for an old woman. So they showed us others, some red, some with cap sleeves, some sleeveless. They were all unspectacular but they would brush off our complaints of how it didn't quite fit (too loose here and there) or that they weren't really appropriate for weddings b/c they weren't red, yet they just said you could wear teal and it doesn't need the dragon/phoenix thing. I'm glad we didn't settle b/c the last store we went to (more like some rented space in a larger, undeveloped shopping mall on Grand Street) had this beautiful red dress with gold accents (including the appropriate dragon/phoenix). I like it b/c it is slightly different from the ordinary Chinese dress with a keyhole opening in front and is sleeveless. It fits perfectly (though a little too perfectly as my tummy roll is very obvious) and is better constructed than other dresses that I've seen b/c it is lined so it falls over my body nicer. I just need to get shoes (maybe slippers?) and bodyshaping underwear to go with it.

Yesterday we met with a cake baker and I was quite impressed with her portfolio. She charges $4 per slice or $3 for sheet cakes, not including delivery charges. I think that is low on the cake cost spectrum for fancy wedding cakes but expensive compared to Chinese cakes (which can be flavorless, too spongy and/or dry, and not that nice). Though the flavors are tempting I'm not sure if I would justify spending so much on cake. At the same time I'm not a fan of the Chinese cake so maybe we'll check out Veniero's (ironically I hear they are cheaper for cakes b/c it is much simpler -- fresh fruit, cream, white cake, I imagine).

Upcoming: we really have to work out the music situation. The problem is that I dislike loud music and I think most DJs are like that but from previous experience, a lot of ppl have complained about how boring live music is (be it jazz or a slightly more upbeat rock band). This coming weekend we'll be headed to an out-of-town wedding so we won't be able to get much done but at least I'll be able to steal some ideas. :)