Florence Wedding

Hello ladies,

I'm compiling two playlists.  One is for the mellowing out the night before, and the other is for playing while we are doing hair etc and getting dressed.  I'm not 21 so not keen on the heavy metal and rap scene. 

Some of the ones that I've chosen so far include:

Playlist #1. Enya, Trisha Yearwood - Down on My Knees, Allison Krause - Down to the River to Pray/I'll Fly Away,

Playlist #2. Uncle Kracker - Follow Me/Smile, Casey Chambers - Am I not Pretty Enough/Pony, Train - Hey Soul Sister/Marry Me, Bob Marley - No Woman No Cry, Buffalo Soldier,

Would love to hear what other people used.

Got a new phone and I'm lookking for a new ringtone.  What do you have on your phone?  Any suggestions?

For your first wedding anniversary are you planning to do anything special?

Marrieds - what did you do for your first anniversary?

I've been looking at shoes a lot lately and wondered...what's the most you've paid for shoes? (or willing to pay if the style is right?)

I take this off, it created just some misunderstandings. and this is why I cancelled it

thanks 

Here's how the "Hottest Filipino Salsa Couple Ever" came to be.

After years of a few serious relationships and single fun, I finally met my first and last filipino guy at a Salsa class. I'm an occupational therapist, and one of my good doctor friends from the hospital invited me to my first class. I took different classes around NJ/NY, and eight months later Chris showed up in one of my Jersey classes (He worked in Manhattan and had taken all his classes there originally) We had a pretty good connection from the start. I actually thought he was Japanese until one day he had an Eskrima shirt on (That's filipino stick fighting martial arts). I also noticed that he wrapped his knee every class and that it usually came undone. Finally, I showed him the "proper" way to wrap his knee being that I'm a therapist and all. I guess I had a "Florence Nightingale" affect on him. Even though it took him a month to ask me out...and he thought my name was Cherry (really...do I look like a Cherry??), here we are 4 1/2 years later. I've been dancing as part of a professional salsa group (Check me out in Pzazz Dancers from NJ) since then. he performed with another group then mine for a while, but now he just enjoys going out to dance socially. We've actually helped teach and choreograph salsa wedding dances for two of my friends. He's my favorite dance partner and now my favorite partner for the rest of my life.....

Basically Michelle's mom paid for both of us to go to Italy on a Perillo tour... (Yes, the ones you see on TV).. We left on October 1st and returned to California on the 10th. 

When we got to Italy our baggage was LOST so we had to wear the same clothes for 2-3 days in Italy !  That was NOT fun...

David had packed an engagement ring in his luggage (big mistake - we know!) cause he was worried I would see it in his carry on.  Our luggage was lost and sent to Amsterdam (I think it was sent there after they stole the ring from the luggage to throw us off but whatever - I think someone in Newark airport stole it) then from Amsterdam, they sent our luggage to Rome and then Florence (we went to Rome and then we were in Florence on our tour). 

When they found our luggage, they called our tour guide, Angelica.  David was persistent that we go to the airport to go and get the luggage instead of waiting for the courier to drop it off within a 24 hour window because his "expensive watch" was in there (that's what he told me instead of the ring).  I thought at this point his expensive watch was in there and not an engagement ring so we paid the 50 Euros (about 75 USD) to go get the stuff...

Got to the airport, saw our baggage and opened them up... David broke down and got red tears just streamed down his face.  He didn't even say 2 words to me for about 10 minutes cause he was so upset... I thought the watch was gone and that's why so I sat there and waited for him to talk and while he was sitting there upset, I told the lady I wanted to file a claim and she told me to have him write down what was missing.  I gave him the paper and had him write down what was missing and he handed her the paper with the items missing written down.  She then says, "Ma'am, a ring?  I thought you said a watch?"  I looked at David... He nodded and I knew my engagement ring was stolen and not the watch.  That was why he had to get to the airport to get the luggage and why he was so devastated.

So he never proposed at this point... He just told me about it... We were both upset... Crying... Wondering if someone has the evil eye on us or something... But hey we thought the worst was over...

I go to take a shower to relax while David was napping... And what happens? The shower floods so I get out with my hair freezing and wet (and we're in an expensive hotel okay so it's not a cheap and bad hotel...Just really BAD BAD LUCK)!  So at this point, not only am I upset, I'm pissed and near my breaking point so in my towel dripping wet, I walked all the way down the hallway (yes, in my towel - I definitely did NOT care at this point) to my parents room and then got into their shower and just when I think - it can't possibly get any worse right?  WRONG!  What happens?  I lean my head back to rinse the cold water out and slip and fall and land on my head.  I got a giant tennis ball of a knot on my head... I broke down... I mean I cried like I did when I was 2 years old for a good half hour... My mom heard and so did my brother cause they were all in the room and I put ice on and everything ... This was all Friday, October 3rd. 

2 days later (Sun, the 5th) I was still sore and have a nice bump on my head and my arm is sore probably cause I landed on that too... I guess in a way I was lucky cause I could have broken something or died or lost a tooth or something but it was still a horrible day.....

Then rewind back to October 4th... 

We went to Venice for the day and it was BEAUTIFUL... It is EXACTLY what I pictured Italy to be and what anyone who thinks of Italy pictures it to be in their head...The canal, the beautiful buildings and scenery, the romance, the Gondola rides, and just the amazing culture...  We left the bad luck behind us and focused on our trip...

Apparently while we were touring and at the Murano glass factory watching them make the glass vases and statues, David and our tour guide went to another part of the Murano factory where you can buy stuff and he got a ring that was made of Murano glass (the diamond) and sterling silver or something.

(This is the Murano glass factory tour)

Then we went on the Gondola ride with my mom, stepfather, and my brother and we were drinking champagne and David made a toast and he proposed in front of my family and everything... I cried, I said YES!  David was nervous and happy at the same time.  I didn't expect it after all we had gone through just the day before and it was still romantic, amazing, and everything I wanted it to be... How amazing of him, after all he lost, to still go through with it and ask me to be his wife and spend the rest of my life with him.  Ring or no ring, all he had to do was ask me and I would have said yes.

Our honeymoon is our wedding gift from my parents, and what a great one it is! We're doing 16 days and seeing several countries in Western Europe.
Cities include:
London - We're flying in a couple days before the tour officially starts so we can explore on our own.
Amsterdam
Munich, Germany
Austian Tyrol - Sightseeing at the Alps and a whitewater rafting excursion
Venice - Gondola ride anyone?
Rome - The Colosseum, the Pantheon, Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel... I am beyond excited!
Florence
Lucerne, Switzerland
Paris - the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe along with a French dinner and cabaret show!

Our honeymoon is through Contiki tour services. They cater to 18-35 year olds, so we're looking forward to tons of adventure and sight seeing. We're happy to do a broad tour like this because it is our first time to Europe. That way when we save up the money to go back, we can focus on the cities we fell in love with!

            The Colosseum                                       Glockenspiel in Munich

    Paragliding in Switzerland                 Gondolas in Venice

             The Eiffel Tower                               The Moulin Rouge