bachelorette party day 1: napa
7 of us flew from Long Beach airport on Thursday morning and met up with Gwen, Boumy and Mary to start off the trip. The first day was kept pretty mellow which I was quite thankful for. I knew the next few days would require lots of energy and needed the extra rest the first day to keep up. View the images below for a more complete story of day one.
Meet Carlos…the bartender.
lined up
First shot of many for the weekend.
We all took a shot..or at least part of a shot even before getting any breakfast in our tummies.
Can you tell how excited we all are!?!
Nancy got caught sleeping on the flight with her mouth open. Since she had taken 2 shots at the airport, Ashley decided to help her sober up quicker by feeding her a terra blue chip.
Us gals at Hendry Winery.
This was very good…artichokes!
All I need is my camera and some good pizza.
Boumy is the sweetest thing! She ordered in 10 cupcakes for us to enjoy.
Doesn’t this look so yummy?!?
Gwen Huyen pouring the champagne.
Toast to the start of a wonderful trip.
Can’t forget the henny.
We played some bachelorette games that involved me getting spanked for answering questions incorrectly about Robert. See how scared I am of Hop spankin me? I also had to take cognac shots for incorrect answers–good thing I know Robert pretty well, even when he incorrectly answered his own questions.
Killin’ some time posing out front at Bottega.
some of the gals waiting for dinner
Gwen Huyen posing like a VS model.
I hear this is a famous chef…iono his name!
The group at dinner with the famous chef.
This was soo yummy. The 10 of us shared 2 of them.
I made this red veil.
Day 2 to come…I promise it’ll be a little more wild and interesting given that we make our way from the vineyards to the city.
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I had the time of my life with these lovely ladies. More on that later. For now…just a sneak peek at the fun we had.
Napa Gals
Segwaying around SF gals
our bachelor and bachelorette parties
In 2 days Rob and I will be embarking to 2 very separate locales, 2,400 miles apart with drastically different weather forecasts, but for the very same reason: to celebrate/mourn our single-dome. In tow we each bring along over a dozen friends to mark this momentous occasion.
Rob and the guys are flying south to Cancun, Mexico. Me and the girls are headed north to Napa/San Francisco, CA.
In Cancun the boys will be staying at the all inclusive resort of The Royal in Cancun. They won’t have to worry about starving or having enough alcohol–it comes free flowing 24/7. All they’ll need are board shorts, sunscreen, and sunglasses for a good old time in the sun and water.
For the gals our first night is at the luxurious Vino Bello Resort in Napa where we’ll be vineyard hopping and taking photos at the many picturesque vineyards we visit. The next two nights will be spent in the city for site seeing and clubbing fun. We’re staying at the Hilton SF Union Square close in proximity to all the hot spots. The part I’m looking forward to most is getting all girly and glammed up with all 15 girls everyday. It’s when girls get to be girls and have a ton of fun.
I’m like so SUPER DUPER excited about this trip I prob won’t be able to sleep the next few nights. Can’t wait to blog about what we did, what we wore, the PG details, and share a limited number of photos next week when we get back. I can’t say much, if anything, about the Cancun trip so hopefully I can get Rob to blog an entry about his time there for you guys to read.
Sneak peek of part of the fun the gals will be having. Note: Tony is not part of the fun. He is the westside throwing coat hanger for our feather boa’s.
it’s been 6 months…
…since robert and I said “i do”. Surprise! We’ve been legally married for 6 months now. Only 78 days to go til our church ceremony and big celebration.
Not very many people knew about this beforehand. Duy was the only person to accompany us to the Fullerton courthouse to double as a witness and to photograph the milestone event back on Friday, November 13th. Gwen Huyen also knew since she came over to style an up-do for the special occasion.
Here’s Gwen styling my hair. That Kim Anderson photo in the background was a gift from Robert on our 1st Valentine’s Day 12 years ago.
Duy being so detailed took a photo of the flip calendar at the courthouse.
Here we are inking our commitment to one another.
We swore to the justice of the peace.
We chose this courthouse because of the room. The words on the wall state:
May you strive all your lives…
…to meet this commitment with the same love and devotion…
…that you now possess.
This was great practice for our upcoming church ceremony.
Our official first kiss as husband and wife.
The officiant was so moved she got teary eyed!
The rings.
I put together this bouquet myself from a grower’s bunch @Costco.
Funny thing is we almost forgot to bring it! Had to swing back around to grab it.
We explored downtown Fullerton for a bit.
Didn’t Gwen Huyen do an amazing job on my up-do?
Love this shot. Shows the name of the city where we got married.
So did I opt to take his last name? Sure did!
My new name: Thao Vu Archey.
There was no way I could fully let go of my maiden name.
it’s been 13 years…
…that robert and i have officially been a couple. Though we did have a couple months of courtship it was official on May 11, 1997. In our fun search for a “what-if-we-got-married-what-day-would-we-choose” wedding date, we realized the year that May 11th would be on a Saturday would be skipped b/c of a leap year (from a Friday in 2007 to a Sunday in 2008). It would have been great to just remember and celebrate just 1 anniversary date, but we definitely did not feel like waiting another 3 years for that to happen [the next time it lands on a Saturday is in 2013].
So how did it become official? Well, it was just one of those nights where I snuck out late at night to meet up with Rob. We drove to a park in Santa Ana somewhere and stayed up all night just chit chatting. I ended up coercing him into asking me to be his girlfriend at 5:35am. He was planning on officially asking me the following Saturday at our junior prom, but me being me and always getting what I want, I completely spoiled it.
Just to note: May 11th in 1997 was also Mother’s Day. Let’s just say it wasn’t such a happy day for my mom since she caught her 16 year old daughter sneaking out–again–with the boyfriend she had yet to approve of and love like a son. =)
Here we are 6 days after making it official. Can’t believe my parents still let me attend prom after what I pulled off earlier in the week. If I were my kid I’d be grounded for the entire summer. *lucky for me, I’m not!* Happy 13th anniversary babe!
how do you like my two-toned arm and rob’s stache?
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