What season do you call it?

I was at the mall the other day and stumbled into a Hallmark shop to browse for cards. Like most people, I have come to associate December with the word "Christmas", but this year, it seems like I don't know what to say to people when you have so many varied forms of greeting people. You have probably heard of it all, but is it about finding the most politically correct phrase to use or do you just say what comes to the mind naturally. Quite frankly, I used to think "Merry Christmas" was fine, however, nowadays, you hear "Happy Holidays", "Season's Greetings", and other greetings which really don't give much definition and meaning. What do you think? What kind of "card" can encompass all of that? Would it be so offensive if you used the word "Christmas"?

Holiday Breakups

Lately, I've been hearing news stories of countless celebrity breakups from the divorce of Christina Applegate to the calling off the wedding of Nicole Ritchie. For what may seem like a trend is just normal by all standards for just as many people breakup, the same might be said as to the number of people who get engaged during the holidays. Is it the allure and romance associated with the holidays that gets people all crazy? Perhaps it is the romantic sentiment, the snow, and the spirit of giving that might explain things.

When you love someone - set them free?

When you love someone, you do anything to make sure that they are safe and protected. Whether your are mother, father, husband, or wife, there will always be somebody that you would want to ensure is safe. But, when do you draw the line in sheltering a person from the harsh realities of the world. For instance, as a mother, how do you raise your kids so that they learn to defend themselves from the insulting officemate or class bully? While we all want to protect the people we love, I find that one of the challenges to raising kids is knowing when to let go. We all want to raise children that are polite and courteous, however, do parents come short when teaching kids how to be assertive? Is assertiveness something that you just learn from everyday life? Do you assert yourself all the time or do you have to pick when to be assertive?

Split up - official

This Thanksgiving I heard that Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are separating. While I know that they are really young and just got married less than 2 years ago, this is another example of how many people rush into marriage. It is really indicative of our times. If only people would learn.

What it means to be unique?

In less than 2 days, Thanksgiving will be here, which only signals the coming of the holiday season. This means hitting the retail pavement in search of presents for friends and relatives, etc. Like many people, I want to find gifts that are unique - whether it is handmade or not just as long as it has some unique quality that shows some careful thought was placed into its purchase. Yes, it is idealistic, but this is where the problem lies. Now more than ever, the word "unique" has been so overused by retailers alike that the consumer is often left with so-called "unique" choices that are really much the same. Isn't unique defined by being one of a kind? Because "unique" is no longer "unique" - the word itself has become trite. With this mind, this coming holiday season, I've decided to gather your ideas on what defines a unique gift, especially if it is for a special person in one's life like a parent or spouse. Your ideas are welcomed!

Got me thinking

Is there really such a thing as soul mate? There are some people who marry; believing that the person they are with is their soul mate. This is the individual they have been waiting for their whole life. One that seems to be yin in the yang. But, is it really possible?

Kidnapped, Shot, and Getting Hitched

We usually hear of victims, that have have been kidnapped and shot, who forgive their captors, but rarely do we find one that has decided to marry their captors. Bizarre, but true. In what appears to be an odd mix between forgiveness, love, and a dose of Stockholm Syndrome. Tina Marie Stebbins has decided to marry her longtime boyfried - Christian Leroy Lindblad who had previously shot her and threatened her kids. While little is revealed in the news about the exact circumstances about why he shot her in the first place, don't you think love has its limits particularly in these kind of situations? Isn't there some form of resentment that comes about?

From Princess to Miss - A Royal to Commoner Wedding

Every once in a while, you hear a story of a commoner marrying into royalty. We look to England for the tumultuous marriage of Princess Di and Princess Charles, and then we hop on down to Spain for the not to distant and extravagant wedding of Prince Felipe and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, and then up to Denmark where Prince Frederik nearly two years ago married Australian-born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson. We all know that commoners marrying into royalty gain significant rewards. One of them obviously is the attainment or assignment of an official title - that being “princess” most of the time. But, how often do we hear of a member of the royalty marrying a commoner and losing their title? Not very often. The last time I read about such stories was when King Edward VIII married American, Wallis Simpson back in 1937 – giving up his title and duties as king. Today we find a similar story, but not one as drastic as King Edward VIII who left his title of King. Princess Sayako of Japan marries a commoner and will be joining the rank of the commoner soon. Besides giving up her title, she will have to "adjust" to a new way of life. Maybe even some cultural shock? Hmm. I guess this means she will to do ordinary things like grocery shopping and driving a car. Yet, with a $1.2M dowry from the state, that ain't too shabby, either! Yeah, it sounds romantic when a prince or princess marries a commoner for love, but c'mon how bad could it be marrying into royalty and having all of those responsibilities like attending charity teas and soirees. I wonder what it would be like? Can you imagine that?

From BBC website:



Technorati tags: Wedding - Marriage - Royalty


** I learned about these nifty Technorati Tags from Bill's blog at Code, Code World.

Wedding Fete

In ancient China, foot binding used to be customary for women of wealth and nobility – many years before getting married. It is a painful process of binding the feet in order to stop it from growing. The typical age for foot binding began as early as 4 or 5. Popular during the Tang Dynasty, the practice was believed to have been inspired by the beauty and glamour associated with concubines that performed for the emperor. Large footed women were considered ugly and often poor because only the rich could afford foot binding. Being petite footed allowed women to wear dainty narrow shoes – not for walking, but entirely for aesthetic reasons, since these women often could not walk on their own anymore. Many of these women’s feet only grew to about 4 inches at the most. If you take a look at some examples of these shoes, it’s quite uncanny at how their “pointedness” resembles many wedding shoes and even ordinary fashion footwear in modern times. See what I mean:



These pointy tipped shoes are typically so thin on the front of the shoe that it takes an extraordinary individual with super narrow and thin feet to be able to fit into these shoes. While pointy shoes have certainly passed that of having to bind one’s feet, they still remain entirely impractical for most women.

Ancient China – an example from Frank H. McClung Museum · University of Tennessee - exhibit on foot binding

Big Bird wouldn't be Happy

I was watching the Discovery Channel's documentary on Bird Flu. Boy, that freaked me out. While I don't want to be an alarmist, this disease is really really serious.

If you watched the show, what was most bothersome was seeing street vendors slaughter live chickens in an open market. When you live in the US, you never see things like that because when we buy chicken they come in nicely packaged containers. The only thing we have to worry about is cooking the damn thing thoroughly and cleaning up afterwards, which is hardly difficult except when wiping the counter with lysol to prevent salmonella. Since it is only a matter of time when the disease hits the US, I'm a bit disturbed that there is no massive effort to prevent the disease from hitting pandemic levels. I can't imagine how families will deal with this disease if one had to choose between saving a spouse, child, or parent, since drugs and vaccines are in such short supply. All in all, this has really made me question whether I'd still eat chicken! I would certainly have second thoughts about eating it at a party or wedding, or any other gathering.



Get the facts on bird flu at:

CDC information

If you want to watch the program on Discovery Channel, here are the showtimes:

TP

I had a great conversation with my doctor the other day. Nope. It wasn't about my health - ironically. But, it was about the tackiest products currently available on the wedding market. Since my doctor recently got engaged, she told me that while looking around the web for some reception items, the funniest and tackiest item she came across was wedding guest toilet paper. Who would've thought that they would be a hit, but somebody out there is laughing all the way to the bank?

Campaign for Happiness

Somewhere on a daily basis, there is a campaign always going on. Whether it is a campaign for peace, a campaign against AIDS, a campaign for war, a campaign against war, or a campaign to fight breast cancer. While every campaign focuses on fighting for something, why not have a campaign purely for happiness. After all, there is always something to be happy about! So today, I, me, myself. I am starting the campaign for happiness with my new little graphic. Feel free to grab it and spread happiness - just for the sake of it!

Awkard times

When couples decide to split up, separate, or divorce, there is usually a friend or relative to turn to when things go wrong. This is only natural, of course. But, as a friend or relative, how is one to feel if you find out one day that your closest friend, sister, or cousin has decided to split up, but only for them to get back together again? At first, you'd think that the split would be a positive thing for them, but how are you supposed to feel if you find out that they have decided NOT to split up anymore. I believe it becomes a personal experience for oneself when you support a person through an emotionally difficult experience whether negative or positive. Just as you'd be happy for somebody just about to get married at their wedding, the same can probably be said in a divorce. You'd feel worried for them as you help a friend or relative cope through a tough time. Nevertheless, I still don't know what to say to one of my friends who recently said they were divorcing and are now getting back together. What do you say when you get together for Thanksgiving? It will surely be an awkward feeling...What are you supposed to say?

Rude or just normal?

Every culture has its own idiosyncrasies from the way people converse to the manner by which people communicate. During my two-week hiatus, one of the interesting events that I had attended was that of my former schoolmate who was to get married in a Cantonese/American style wedding in Hong Kong. The wedding was obviously beautiful, but I was struck at the unique way the Cantonese communicated and interacted. From the point of view of an outsider such as an American, the Cantonese may appear to be rude while talking, but in reality, this is the normal way of conversing with each other. While I clearly don’t understand their culture let alone language, I just found it equally amusing to see a commercial – a government sponsored one that encourages their people on how to be courteous and polite in certain situations such as how to best communicate to the driver when getting off a bus. Nevertheless, the city of Hong Kong is a great place for eating and of course, shopping. You get the best deals on clothes and restaurants are open until late at night! Hong Kong is really a great eating and shopping destination.

I'm back - where was I?

Okay. Why the two week hiatus? A much needed vacation. A break from the insanity. A good time spent with close friends. Meanwhile, trying to get over jet lag.

Return to sender

If you were to get divorced or separated, would you return an heirloom given to you by your ex-husband's mother,that she had given to you during your enagagement?

Too important not to pass

Death or a near death experience has a strange way of really waking you up to realizing what's important in life - even if it's a pet. My bestfriend's dog (i.e., her Dalmatian) almost died this Sunday because of a condition known as bloating. We didn't know that a bad case of gas can cause a dog to die. Her dog was lucky that the vet arrived in time to bring the dog to the hospital to have the stomach decompressed. For anyone with a dog, this condition is considered one of the worst emergencies because a dog can die within minutes. It is a painful way for anyone to die. While I usually talk about weddings and marriage, I can't ignor this incident because it was just so painful to see my bestfriend lose her dog.

Blooming and Pregnant

I was watching Oprah the other day and Sarah Jessica Parker was their guest. Most notable about the interview were two things:

1) She has banned the word "fat" at home and

2) She misses the "birthing" experience.

While using the word "fat" is certainly wrong and there are other words that can be substituted, I found the latter part of missing the "birthing" experience as being quite odd. I mean we all know, I mean women for that matter know that having a baby (literally) is not something you want to miss. We can miss the experience of being a "beautiful bride" or that of "blooming woman (i.e., pregnant), but I don't think that missing labor pains comes up on my list. Then again, every woman is different, and we each have our unique experiences.

Meet the Parents

If you have ever watched the movie "Meet the Parents", then anyone faced with in-laws knows exactly how funny this movie is. For the most part, I've been busy lately meeting up with my husband family. While my current life may not be a real-life version of the movie, this movie certainly brings a lot of laughs and I just never get tired of the movie.

Off to Paris

Okay, the wedding has been called off. Paris is no longer getting married to the Greek son of a shipping magnate. For whatever reasons they may have for cancelling their wedding, you can bet that Paris will continue to surprise us.