Oh, Guam!

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Since I'm writing to you all the way from Guam, I thought I'd take a minute to share some photos of our little island paradise! Its a great spot to Honeymoon for those of you willing to part with $1400 (from USA) for airfare. Most of Guam's visitors are Japanese and Chinese families looking for a quick island getaway.

Barrettes enjoying sunset.

What I love most about living on Guam are the sunsets. Almost every evening from 6-7pm the sky puts on a show. Never have I seen sunsets anywhere that come as close to the ones on Guam.

Me with Bridesmaid Amy

We also have some beautiful beaches, which look just as pretty in the daytime.

Mr. Barrettes at Country Club of the Pacific

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Not much here as far as cities are concerned, but we have our fair share of nightlife and shopping. Super high-end fashion stores like Gucci and Chanel are popular with the Japanese, greatly contrasting the rest of the retail on island. We don't have Starbucks or Gap, but we have a massive Kmart.

(Baby Barrettes cooling off at the beach)

He needs sunglasses!

Its easy to see why Mr. Barrettes and I have been able to live far away from home for so long. But now that we are tying the knot and thinking about family, our days living on Guam are numbered.

(all photos by Miss Barrettes unless otherwise noted)

Have you ever lived far away from your family? What brought you back home?

Faux Fitting

The morning of my Mom's flight out of Guam we met the girls at Iridescent for our 'Faux Fitting'. I wanted my Mom to have the experience of dress shopping because my wedding dress experience is a bit different. We will be modifying her wedding dress for me to wear during the ceremony, and I will then wear a fabulous little white number for the reception. So.... no true "Say Yes to the Dress" moment for us.
Knowing that I wouldn't actually be falling in love with a dress, I jumped right in to try a few different styles, just so we could get some idea of what we did like. At the time of this fitting we had plenty of time to play with the details. I already have a pretty good idea of how I would like her dress to be manipulated so the seamstress has her work cut out for her.

After a few dresses, I was getting bored with their selection and decided to try a veil, since I truly don't know what I'm doing in that area yet. I freaked out a little once it was on my head! Ahhh! A veil!! Its real!!!

Friend Barrettes played dress-up as well and she tried on one dress that I actually really liked. Well, I say that loosely. I liked it better than most of the dresses there. I'm sure had there been a better selection, and more dresses in my size, it wouldn't have been my favorite....but we worked with what we had. I really did feel like a BRIDE in it. It fit me well and flattered my semi-curveless body...

Pretty right?! This just makes me that much more excited for my real dress! Can't wait until my Mom and I have that true moment when we know its perfect...♥

What was your "Say Yes to the Dress" moment? How did you know it was THE ONE?

If You'd Like Chicken, Please Have it for Lunch...

Mr. Barrettes spoke with our potential catering company yesterday and we're up to our eyeballs in heavy hors d'oeuvres. My mouth waters just reading the list of potential players:

-French crepes with boursin cheese, asparagus, and fire roasted peppers

-Grilled fig and goat cheese crostini

-Salmon tartare on potato gaufrette with creme fraiche and caviar

-Tandoori grilled prawn with mint and cilantro aioli

-Lobster spring roll with avocado and spicy red
grapefruit aioli

-Wild mushroom crostini with pancetta and triple cream brie

-Black pepper herb crusted beef tenderloin with sun-dried tomato chutney, horseradish cream

-Petite croque-monsieur with black forest ham, havarti, swiss and cranberry mustard

And the list goes on and on.... How are we ever going to decide when there are something like 45 options to choose from? There is a veggie list, a shellfish list, coastal fish list, poultry list, meat list, hot list, cold list, stationary list, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

At the very least we have decided against chicken. Sorry chicken, its not that I don't love you. I eat you often, and I assume most of my guests do as well. But you're just not special enough to make the list for the big day. You taste the same all the time. Even if you're marinated, fried, skewered, glazed or roasted, you still taste like chicken. We're not flying to Napa Valley to eat chicken.

How did you decide what to keep and what to cut?

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