Yearly Archives: 2014

August 24, 2014

I had my bachelorette party yesterday and of all the surge of emotions I am feeling today, gratefulness is the biggest of them all. I am so grateful for the remarkable people in my life.

My Maid of Honour Laisie is just amazing and I love her to pieces. She’s a sister from another mother. Thank you so much for all your impeccable planning + everything else. If I were to list them all, this post would never end. I’m so lucky to have you as my MOH – you are actually the best. My bridesmaid Sarah is not a makeup artist by trade but definitely might as well be one considering her raw talent in making others look beautiful. Thank you so much for painting on my face and for bringing so much life to the party. My bridesmaid Andrea brought me to my first hardcore house music club and while I had no idea how to dance to the music, it’s surely high on storytelling value and a hilarious addition to my list of Firsts. Thank you for flawlessly pouring an ice bucket over my head and doing the #icebucketchallenge with me last night. My bridesmaid and baby sister Charmane is simply the sweetest girl around, supportive and present no matter what.

The day began at the spa at the Ritz Carlton, and then a hoedown at Rock ‘n’ Horse Saloon, and then dancing at Uniun Night Club. Oh and then my #icebucketchallenge in our hotel room. I’ve made my donation at ALS.ca and you should, too. I think it’s FANTASTIC that this has gone as viral as it has. And for all you naysayers, your negativity is unwelcome and you should read this!

Enjoy the trip down memory lane! 11 days until the wedding!!!

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And my #icebucketchallenge video. :)

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 8:59 pm
August 15, 2014

I had a wicked childhood even all the way up to my tween years and my carnival photos remind me of it all the time. I definitely wish I could go back in time and relive those wonder years. :)

08.15.14

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 4:46 pm
August 10, 2014

It’s only now that the wedding stuff is getting to be a lot more fun than troublesome. For the record, I’m officially enjoying it a lot now. Probably because the tasks are different now being a month out. Or maybe I’m just getting really excited and am in a different headspace. :) We made a bunch of chalkboard signs, picked our songs, bought nice paper to write our love letters on, bought my bridal jewelry, bought chris’ wedding shoes, worked on our wedding favours, and a bunch of miscellaneous things. I will make a point to take pictures of ALL of our DIY items before the wedding and post them here. :) We are getting so excited!!! I can’t wait!

I also went for my first dress fitting this past Thursday and thank goodness I love the dress just as much as I did when I bought it back in November. There was a bit of anxiety there as to whether I’d feel the same about the dress 9 months later! *phew*

Here’s one from Santa Cruz, California beach boardwalk, inspired by an old roller coaster shot here. I LOVE carnivals. They make everything better.

Happy Sunday! And happy birthday to my little sister! <3

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Posted By Charlene Precious @ 6:36 pm

Fastest editing I’ve ever done! I’ve wanted to get some pictures up from the Jack and Jill before too much time passes and with so much work tonight, I had to speed-edit these. Hope they look alright. :) Gotta document in a timely manner while the event is still somewhat relevant.

Anyway, that’s it from me. I love my amazing family and soon-to-be husband.

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Posted By Charlene Precious @ 10:27 pm

I really can’t wait for our next vacation, which will also be our honeymoon. :) Need to get away again! I am so inspired by travel and need frequent doses of it. It’s such a good rejuvenator.

It’s official. I watch way too many horror movies. Chris was up at the cottage yesterday so I spent the night by myself. I went to bed at 10:30pm because I was tired but then ended up tossing and turning until 3:30am. FIVE HOURS!!! That is so unlike me because I usually fall asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. But not last night. Last night I had all these crazy horror movie scenarios playing in my head with my plans of escape. It was horrible at the time but funny in hindsight of course. I also drank a whole cup of coffee yesterday afternoon, which I never do. Not a coffee drinker by any means and so of course, the one time I have a cup, I have to suffer through 5 hours of counting sheep in hopes that it would help me fall asleep. Who knew that a simple combination of horror movies and a cup of coffee would be the death of me.

Anyway, this is us in Santa Cruz, California. A beach and a carnival in one place? I couldn’t have asked for more. It was too much fun.

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Posted By Charlene Precious @ 10:10 pm

Life is CRAZY right now!!! I just wanted to get a quick post up since I haven’t had a chance to blog in a bit. :(

Etsy sales are on FIRE this month and I’ve been busy fulfilling orders. Wedding planning is picking up again with details, details, details. Things are VERY busy at work and last but certainly not least, I’m gearing up for the start of the Fall semester in September, particularly for our capstone project. I’m basically a machine right now. No rest. Ever.

Today is also a very sad day. We’ve given up our dog Edward to a really nice family. My allergies are getting out of control and I’ve had to live with it for the last 3 years because of my love for dogs but it has finally come to a head now and it’s just causing me too much pain and discomfort, so we made the tough decision to give him up. :( Sigh. Sacrifices.

Before I forget, I also wanted to mention the wonderful Jack and Jill that Chris’ parents threw for us last Sunday, July 27th. We are blessed with so much love and are so grateful for all the remarkable people in our lives. I have pictures to post but seeing as I can’t quite keep up with this blog, we’ll have to wait a bit until I get there. I literally still have thousands of pictures from my San Francisco trip that haven’t even been touched and shared; here’s one! I’m so behind!!!

Anyway, happy long weekend!

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Posted By Charlene Precious @ 7:30 pm

I spent this past Friday with the General Mills team building wall frames for Habitat for Humanity. It was some seriously tiring work considering I went from having never hammered a nail before (lol) to hammering what seemed like 60+ 3.5″ nails. Each nail must have taken me at least 25 hammers before it went in and it required the strength of both my arms. It was exhausting to say the least; my poor, feeble little arms. I laugh at the thought of this because the supervisor would do no more than 5 hammers with one arm and was good to go. At one point, I was given the option to use a nail gun. I tried it and it scared me. I felt like I was going to end up hurting myself or someone with it by total accident, so I stuck to the good ol’ hammer! Anyway, having said that, it was really quite rewarding in the end and of course, I also learned a thing or two about construction work. Hard work, that’s for sure. And certainly not my forte. ;)

07.20.14

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 1:27 pm

A quick post from my aunt’s home! Abraham Lincoln said it best: whatever you are, be a good one. Do it.

Chris and I had our engagement photoshoot today at Black Creek Pioneer Village. It was so much fun!! We love our photographers; they are absolutely fantastic. I can’t wait to see the pictures. Chris and I continued photoshooting on our own afterwards, so here’s one of ours. :) With a little bit of help with framing, he is getting to be a pretty savvy photographer. ;)

Gotta get back to the family! Happy Saturday!

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Posted By Charlene Precious @ 9:24 pm
July 11, 2014

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I love this blog and how it has been able to keep a record of bits and pieces of my life since 2009. Every now and again, I flip through the archives and it’s just amazing to be able to read random posts from 3 or 4 years ago. Imagine this blog in another 5 years and looking back then. What a trip!

I had the privilege of attending an incredibly inspiring marketing offsite with General Mills and it was such a great time. So great that it needs to be captured in this lifelong journal of mine. I’m so honoured to be amidst one of the brightest group of marketers in the country – truly. Such amazing people.

I cannot take credit for these pictures – they were taken by fellow colleagues. It breaks my heart when beautiful memories are captured on phone cameras (I’m becoming more and more guilty of it) because the quality just isn’t there and we have to rely on Instagram to save the day but it’s ALWAYS better than not capturing at all! :)

Chris and I have our engagement photoshoot tomorrow at Pioneer Village with the amazing Amsis Photography. Can’t wait!!!

I also have to note here that we’ve officially applied for our marriage license, so the ante has been upped!! A darn marriage license just kicks things up a notch and makes life just a bit more serious (and exciting).

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Posted By Charlene Precious @ 4:30 pm

YAY! Chris and I just booked our mini weekend getaway right after the wedding to Ste. Anne’s Spa! So excited. Thanks to my juicy tax return. The benefits of being a student again, mwahaha. :) My first class in the Fall literally starts the day after but that’s okay.

I’ve also just completed my independent study application form to continue working on this business next semester with Professor Ellen Auster, one of the best professors at Schulich! I get to work on the business while still earning a full course credit – it can’t get any better than that. This MBA program has brought so many amazing opportunities, I can’t even begin to tell you. So excited for so many things.

07.01.14b

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 3:33 pm