TeamSD: Adventures of Lawyer Girl and Demian Man

1.  He took me shopping yesterday (albeit against his will) to go find a dress that I randomly decided that I have to have.  And that I ultimately decided to buy online lol.

2.  He put together our new Scandinavian Designs console table this weekend:

3.  He uploaded our slideshow from the wedding reception so that I could share with some soon-to-be-brides who are planning for their big day.

4.  While I was sleeping last night, he (without my even asking) fixed this stupid Google re-direct virus that had infected my computer and was making all my Google searches lead me to advertising links.

++++

Unrelated to why Demian is awesome-o, I made lasagna last weekend!  I was very proud of myself because it took forever and made me feel very domestic:

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!  What better way to celebrate 4706-4707 than with a new blog, designed with tender loving care by my hubby

Because this is the year of the ox, and I was born in the year of the rat, it’s supposed to be my lucky year.  It has something to do with the kindly ox of Chinese legend helping the rat win a race held by the Jade Emperor.  In any case, I think last year will be pretty tough to beat!

Couple of fun things from last year that I forgot to mention:

1. Our wedding was featured on Project Wedding’s Real Weddings   Check it out here.
2. We found out (through a friend!) that our wedding video short is up on our videographer’s portfolio!  Chickity check it out at Justin Fone’s website.

Now that our blog is lookin’ all fine, I hope to post more this year!  And even if I don’t…Demian’s linked up our twitter accounts to the top of the page, so at least you’ll know what’s on my mind at this very instant!  See you when we see you!

It’s officially my favorite time of the year – Christmastime!!!  And I know exactly what I love best about Christmas – the tree   Every year, my family goes to Honey Bear Trees on Woodside Road to pick out a (more ginormous than intended) tree, and since last year, Demian and I are continuing the tradition.

We actually went two weekends ago to pick out the perfect tree, which was supposed to be delivered this past Tuesday, but due to work-related snafus, it wasn’t delivered until Friday.  I was sooo excited to decorate it on Saturday, once the branches had settled – the scent of blue noble pine (the only way to go, in my opinion) filled the house on Friday night, covering the pungent smell of the teriyaki stir fry I had made the night before.  Only on Saturday morning, much to my chagrin, we discovered that the bowl holding the water for the tree had LEAK – and so just about a GALLON of water had leaked out onto the sheet-covered tarp we had set the tree on…”moisturizing” our hardwood floors…AAAHHHH!!!!!  After much panicking and grouching on my part, we marched back to Honey Bear to see what we could do.  The staff was very nice about the whole thing and offered to either pick up the tree to re-base it, or let us pick out a new tree to be delivered that day.  Demian had noticed that our original tree was looking a little peaked due to water loss, so we ultimately decided to get another tree.  I am sooo happy with our beautiful tree, which was delivered in a couple of hours and promptly decorated by me and my mom (as Demian played video games after lending his manly touch to stringing the lights) while we listened to Celine Dion’s Christmas album…*swoon*

Here’s the end product, standing at 9 (!!!!) feet high:

Another reason why I love the holidays is because Demian and I celebrate our dating anniversary in December.  This year was our five-year dating anniversary, and we drove over to Navio at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay to celebrate the occasion.  While we were there, we asked the maitre d’ to pass a little thank you card to the chef, who had allowed us to take our engagement photos in his kitchen last year.  As a “you’re welcome,” the chef generously treated us to a few extra courses, which he slipped into our already 5 course tasting menu – including an out of this world truffle parpadelle (simple, buttery, rich) and foie gras and dried cherry stuffed quail.  This may have been the best meal that we’ve ever had!!!  At the same time, by the end of the meal, I thought I was going to die…I could barely eat the last savory course (a beautifully-prepared, super flavorful New York steak) and had to take some petit fours home.  I am such a pig!!!  To commemorate the occasion, here’s a picture of Demian and me, at course number 4 of 8…already full:

Oh yeah!  By the way – got a new haircut!  Which I don’t like!  LOL.  After the wedding, I wanted to get my hair chopped off, ala Posh Spice/Katie Holmes…of course, to Demian’s dismay, since he has a weird love of hair.  At first, I really liked it – it was different and kind of…cool, I guess.  But then I realized…hey…I’m not cool…I miss my long hair!  I also got some honest comments from people (thank God) telling me they liked my long hair better.  So now I’m undergoing the long process of growing it all out again.  Ah well – I guess that was my quarter-life crisis.  Better than buying a sportscar or getting a mistress I suppose

Welp, that’s it for now.  Demian is theoretically working on a re-design of our personal website, so this blog will end up there eventually.  ‘Til next time!

So after 8 miles of walking on Tuesday, we decided that we weren’t quite sore enough…so we embarked on yet another adventure on our second day of Sydney – a four-hour bike tour with Bonza Bike Tours.  We biked all around Sydney’s neighborhoods, starting from The Rocks (hip restaurant and shopping district), down to the Observatory, halfway across the famous Harbour Bridge, passing through Darling Harbour (the touristy theater and performing arts district), down to the Sydney Opera House, through the Royal Botanical Gardens (which we had walked the day before) and into downtown.  Despite the uphill parts (which made my thighs burn!!!), it was all-in-all a really refreshing and interesting trip.  I really enjoy learning about Australia’s native history and more recent colonial history, as well as about what’s up in the city these days.  Sydney is a lot like San Francisco, actually – it has its distinct neighborhoods that parallel those of S.F., a very robust restaurant culture, a large gay population (second only to S.F.’s), strict anti-smoking laws (no smoking indoors or in cars with children), and no driving while on cell phones haha.  It also has great, extensive public transporation, and everyone seems to be very conscious about gas prices.  Apart from the accents, it feels a lot like home here.  Here are some pics from our bike tour:

Oldest House in Sydney

More Old Convict-Built Houses

Us at the Observatory, Having Biked Up a Steep Hill (View of the Harbour Bridge in Background)

Us Under the Harbour Bridge…With Our Cool Helmets

Biking on the Harbour Bridge

 Cool View Under the Bridge

View of North Sydney from the Bridge

Modern Artwork in the Theater District

Halfway through the tour, we stopped at a pub to have a glass of the local brew – James Squire.  Demian was a fan

Chinatown Entrance – Very Similar to the Entrance on Grant Ave. in S.F.!

 Darling Harbour

Very Cool New, Green Building

Another Picture of Us with the Harbour Bridge & Opera House in the Background

After our loooong bike tour, we walked down the steps near our hotel to Harry’s, the most famous meat pie vendor in Sydney (meat pies are a big deal here!).  It’s where all the celebs from around the world go when they visit Sydney, and there are pics of people like Pam Anderson and Adrian Grenier eating Harry’s meat pies around the Harry’s cart.  Demian ordered the Tiger, which is a meat pie with mashed potatoes, mushy peas, and gravy on top.  Diiiiis-gusting!!!  Of course, Demian loved it haha.  I opted for a much healthier hot dog

The Infamous Stairs – Really Awful Climbing Up After a Long Day of Walking and/or Biking

Harry’s Sign

Hot Dog and Tiger!  Rawr!

The evening, we had dinner at Rockpool, which has a great reputation as one of the best restaurants in Sydney.  Its focus is on fresh seafood, and the cuisine is something of a Japanese-fusion nature.  As appetizers (here, called entrees…confusing, no?), we had two different types of raw fish dishes – Demian’s, of course, had uni, his favorite.  We thought the fish was just so-so – we’re quite spoiled with the great quality of seafood in the Bay Area, and also had high expectations of Sydney’s seafood because it’s also a harbor city.  The seafood was fresh, but not nearly as flavorful as we’ve come to expect from S.F. or Vancouver seafood.  My main course (also an entree, since I was still pretty full from the hot dog haha) was a lobster, duck confit, and mango salad – fine, but again, lacking in a bright or interesting flavor profiles.  Demian’s tuna steak was a little more interesting – two huge slabs of tuna, slightly seared, and served with a red wine reduction – surprisingly, very meaty!  I think our favorite part of the meal was dessert.  I had a passionfruit souffle with passionfruit ice cream – both with a very intense flavor, particularly in the souffle (a surprise, since more souffle is only mildly flavored, and mostly eggy).  Demian had a panna cotta topped with strawberry gelee, blood orange sorbet, and cute little fennel meringues.  Loved the combination of the four flavors and textures – airy crunch of the licorice-like meringues, bright and cold sorbet, fruity and sweet gelatin, and creamy, rich panna cotta.

Us with Our “Entrees” at Rockpool

Passionfruit Souffle – It was the PERFECT texture!  So light and airy!

Panna Cotta!

Anyhoo, it’s getting late, so I better be off to bed!  Demian hopefully will get around to posting our adventures from today (our wilderness and wine tour in the Hunter Valley - New South Wales’ Napa Valley - within the next day so we won’t get too far behind!).  Til then…

G’day!  er…G’Nite!

We did it!  After about a year and a half of planning (and twelve years in the making), Demian and I finally got married this past Saturday, September 6.  As I lay awake on the plane ride over to Sydney (after conking out just after take-off and sleeping for 10 hours), I turned over all the day’s events in my mind and realized that, yes, it was the best day of my life.  We have so many rich, beautiful memories just from that single day, all made possible by our loving friends and family who attended to celebrate with us and support us.  (One of our favorite moments from the whole day that both Demian and I will treasure is the moment when DJ Hank announced that the prize for catching the garter was the Wii, and the whole restaurant erupted in “OHHHHHH!!!!”).  We also are so lucky to have worked with vendors who not only are extremely talented and professional (vendor reviews to come later), but who were so sweet to us.  (From my amazing hair and make-up artist Sherrie Long, who gave me my own tube of lip gloss when I realized that I had forgotten to request a touch-up lip palette in advance, to our Cloud 9 limo driver who immediately and graciously drove all the way back to our house after dropping us off when we realized that Demian had accidentally left his cell phone in the van.)  The day was just perfect, and I would not have changed a thing…well, except maybe the weather.  (For those of you who were able to attend the ceremony, thank you, thank you, thank you for suffering the heat with us…mostly with Demian, who, as you could see, made great use of his new monogrammed hanky haha).

Demian and I are in our hotel room in Sydney, relaxing after a huge and delicious breakfast, so I thought I’d heed the great suggestion of our lovely guests, David and Gretchen, and throw up our wedding vows, for those of you who weren’t able to hear us (i.e., weren’t able to hear me through the blubbering).

Demian’s Vows:

You already know that expressing how I feel is not one of my many strengths, so I think I’ll use something I learned from business school and format this in a simple 3 bullet, PowerPoint style list.

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways — all 3 of them (given my limited time),
by Demian Lee.

1. You always put me in my place
o While we spend most of our time together having fun, one of the many things I’ve always loved about you -  as a friend, best friend, girlfriend, fiancee, and soon to be wife — is that you’ve helped me stay focused in my life and your insistent reminders of “You could have studied more!” have truly made me a better person.
2. To quote Weezer “You’re my best friend and I love you.”
o We already take care of each other when we’re sick, when one of is sad we both try to make the other happy, actually, even when we’re both grumpy one of us always steps up to try to make the other feel better.
3. Finally, you make me feel like I actually have a sense of humor
o When we’re together we laugh a lot and I’m able to truly be myself when I’m with you. Most importantly… you laugh at my jokes, which usually aren’t funny. Whether it’s me jumping out of the covers pretending to be ninja, or opening the car door as your servant Igor, time spent with you is a joy.
We’ve stuck with each other through the tough times, and you are the only person I can imagine spending the rest of my life with. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be marrying my best friend.

Jaci’s Vows:

Over ten years ago, we made our first promise: to always be honest with each other.  We were just kids then, just beginning our friendship, but we meant it.  In keeping that promise, we began to learn each other and grow together, to deepen our friendship and fall in love.  It wasn’t long before you became the center of my life, and that I realized that you – and only you – belonged there, belonged with me.  And now, years later, I cannot imagine life any other way than to be with you, through successes and disappointments, laughter and tears, the mundane minutiae of everyday living and the thrill of adventure – experiencing with you, making decisions with you, and building a family with you.  Now, more than ever, I am so in love with you.  Even after these twelve years, I still feel excitement in those moments just before you pick up the phone or walk through the door; there are days when my heart aches with happiness and gratitude for having found you.  Without reservation, I give myself completely to you – you, who helps me overcome my weaknesses, who takes pride in my strengths, who sees the best in me and gives me the confidence to fulfill my potential.  I am forever yours.

Anyhoo, Demian and I are off to explore more of Sydney.  He’ll be throwing up our blog entry for our first day in Sydney later tonight, so stay tuned!