The Cabo San Lucas Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Hotel was the perfect venue for our vintage-themed wedding.  We fell in love immediately with the Spanish-inspired architecture and decor of the ballroom, especially the champagne colored walls and caste iron chandeliers that made the room feel warm, welcoming and intimate.  This picture of the hotel lobby says it all (courtesy of the Crowne Plaza)!

Ken and I were very blessed to have an amazing team of vendors who coordinated the details of our wedding for us, just the way we had planned and envisioned it be…down to the little itty bitty details. Anyone who has ever worked with me (or knows me) will vouch that I am extremely crazy about logistics, details and having things done the way that I wanted them to be done. Once my mind was made up, there is very little wiggle room for negotiation. Call it the Bride-zilla, call it type A personality, call it the control freak in me…however which way you put it, I am an artist and definitely a girl who knows what she wants. In the end, it was all worth it though because everything was beautiful beyond my imagination!

With close to 450 guests from four different generations in the room, one of the things that we struggled with during the planning process was on how to integrate our culture and traditions with a modern twist of romance. With the help of our vendors, however, we were able blend  and “modernize” a traditional Vietnamese wedding to honor our parents while celebrating our marriage in a way that reflected our personalities and styles. We found Stacy, the catering manager/coordinator at Furiwa Seafood Restaurant, who helped us plan and organize details for each part of the wedding. We had contacted and met with several other catering managers prior to meeting with Stacy and to be honest, she charmed us from the get go. Stacy was not only professional, she was honest and upfront about what the venue could offer…and, she was even more organized than I was! Imagine that! She didn’t give us any sales pitch or pressure us into making any decision. As a bride, she made me feel comfortable and was never offended by my straight forwardness (nor did I mind hers). After meeting Stacy, we knew we’d come to the right place (plus, the food was delicious).

The first step in incorporating a traditional Vietnamese wedding with a modern twist was obviously to pick the right catering menu. Furiwa Seafood Restaurant catered a tradition 8-course dinner to our guests. Who could possibly turn down house special fried rice, lobster and tons of seafood, right?!?  Plus, we figured that if all else fails, at least the guests will leave full and happy! We also had to consider entertainment for our guests as well. With four generations filling the room and friends from all different backgrounds, it was important to find the right MC/DJ for our wedding. We were introduced to Michael Ming at  the 2010 Lifetime Weddings & Events Debut. He got us laughing from the very beginning and from the pictures of that night though, there was no doubt that our guests were having a great time with Michael’s jokes on our wedding day. Michael did such a fantastic job keeping the crowd entertained and engaged all night long switching between Vietnamese and English (and once in a while Cantonese). In all of the weddings that I’ve attended, I’d never laughed so hard during a ceremony as I did at my own! All in all, Michael did a great job keep the guests entertained, in the loop about what to expect and kept the program agenda flowing with ease. He definitely did a great job bridging the cultural and generational gaps to cohesively bring everyone together for a good time.

And, of course special thanks to my make-up artist, Katie B, who arrived bright and early that day to work her magic! Choosing the right make-up artist and hair stylist is quite important and I hadn’t had too much luck with the previous stylists I’ve worked with on other special occasions.  With Katie B though, I knew I didn’t have to worry about looking beautiful on my wedding day and lucky for me, she just happened to be available on November 5th! I loved working with her from beginning to end. She made me not only look beautiful on my wedding day, she made me glow from the inside out!  Here’s a snippet from the review that I wrote for Katie B on Wedding Wire to express how she made me feel on my wedding day and how much I love her work:

One of my favorite pictures from our wedding day. It looks like a photo out of an old magazine. Timeless and in love.

Most importantly, I have to thank our amazing and talented photographer (and friend!), Kim Le, and her assistant, David Do, for capturing all of these beautiful moments and details from our wedding day. I still look through our wedding album from time to time, laughing, remembering and feeling how magical everything felt…my fairy tale and a happily ever after.

The venue looked beautiful. Everyone had a great time. And, I married the best guy in the world. I couldn’t have asked for anything more as we danced the night away.

Growing up, my family didn’t have much so when we played, we got creative! Like normal kids growing up in the 80′s and early 90′s we played outside, made mud pies (and sometimes made each other eat it!), made games out of rubber-bands, played hide-and-seek (but sometimes didn’t “seek”)…nothing like the good old days, know what I mean? One of my fondest memories is of when my girl cousins and I designed clothing for our paper dolls. We would draw, color and cut paper for hours and it was so fun! So for this Halloween, I revisited those childhood days…

If you’d like to know how this totally cute and “wearable” dress was made, email me at kimmie@lovekimmie.com.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Love,
Kimmie

The night was jammed packed with entertainment, which included awesome music from different bands, beautiful models who posed as live statues, dance performances, and a handful of drunks. I laughed all night long and received some of the most honest and genuine feedback from the guests.

The highlight of the evening was definitely when this guy in a pink v-neck t-shirt stopped in front of my booth, jumped up and down, and screamed, “Ohhhh my god…this is so freaking cute!” I had no idea what he was referring to, but I loved his enthusiasm! He asked around to see who the designer was and then shook my hand when I greeted him. I thanked him for stopping by and gave him a business card. Two minutes later, he came back asking for another one saying, “you’re just too popular!”  It turns out that his friend snatched my card from his hand and ran off with it!

I also had wardrobe stylists stop by to talk to me; the emcee patiently waiting until the crowd died down so he could make his way over to compliment my accessories; and several people came by to ask me if I was the “teacup” girl (reference to my “Mother-Daugther Tea Party” ring set). Later in the night, another man commented to his partner, “I like her stuff, she should have won for the accessories category…”They talked to me for a bit , held my hand, and then thanked me for inspiring them with my story. Hearing that they were inspired made my night. It was nice to see that my craft made people smile, touched others in a special way, or simply just appealed to the average consumer.

Looking back at the various events that I’ve done over the past year, I know that I still have a lot to learn and that there are still improvements to be made. Packaging and displaying my inventory at an event is top priority on my “to-learn” list. However, the first step to branding is choosing the right name so I’m also happy to announce that my blog domain has been officially changed to http://www.lovekimmie.com, something that I’ve wanted to do since last year. The year just started and all I see are endless possibilities. Cheers to a new year and new opportunities.

Love,
Kimmie

Courtesy of Ms. Jasmine Lim, a photograph from the event…

Throughout the day, guests had the opportunity to eat, mix and mingle, shop and donate time wrapping gifts for the children at the Los Angeles Mission.  My family and friends have participated in my holiday charity projects for the past four years and with their support, we’ve delivered on average over 100 presents to the shelter each Christmas. Casey and Denny of Papernote Photo, wrote and posted a nice summary and pictures from the event.

Thanks to The Lovely Decor, My Cousin’s Closet, and Papernote Photo, my holiday event was a huge success!  We met our gift-wrapping goal for 2011 and delivered over 100 presents to the shelter, involved over 50 guests, and officially launched a Love Kimmie Holiday Charity event! I couldn’t have imagined celebrating my 31st any other way!!

Pictures from the event, courtesy of Pixel Photobooth, can be viewed here.

I’m looking forward to another eventful year, successful fundraising and an even bigger 2012 Love Kimmie Holiday Charity event! I already kicked off 2012 with an event at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater and am hoping to book more events throughout the year, especially intimate Love Kimmie Tea Parties!! If you’d like to host a Love Kimmie event, please contact me via Facebook. As always, thank you for supporting my craziness!

If you found this post inspiring, please share it with your friends!

Love,
Kimmie

How I like to celebrate my birth month: My 30th Celebration. My 30th was probably the most memorable bday celebration of all times!

I  look at everyday as a new and exciting adventure and no mission was impossible for me; kind of like Kim Possible. Unless I’m feeling sick that morning, there is always a ton of things to do on my agenda for the day and oftentimes, what I do does feel like I’m leaving a positive mark on the world.  I’m no superhero by any means. I don’t have a cape, superpowers or any magic but what I do have is the desire to help people.

Life is too short to focus on the impossibles. I’d rather focus on things that I can change and just do it. I hope that my blog posts will inspire you to put on your imaginary capes and go out and change the world for the better!

Love,
Kimmie

Photography by K.C.
NekroDesignFactory
September 14, 2011

Love,
Kimmie

Mom made sure to ask us what we wanted to feed our guests weeks in advance and then hit up all the local grocery stores the week of the party to buy the ingredients needed for her special recipes. My favorite was her homemade kimchi and her shrimp eggrolls, and it never failed that we’d have to roll 200+ eggrolls for each party!  Sadly, she was never able to eat much of the food she made because of her medical condition but she never let that ruin her day. You could always find her in the kitchen with a piece of fruit or a bowl of oatmeal in one hand and a big smile on her face as she mixed and mingled with the guests.

We continue to celebrate her life each year by gathering up at her grave site for a picnic. For her birthday today, we celebrated with a delicious seafood meal at The Boiling Crab because seafood was one of the many things she loved eating but had to give up after being diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension.  After lunch I went to buy her a flower bouquet sprinkled with white gladiolius, her favorite flower, and then drove up to Rose Hills.  It was a nice day for a picnic; we brought her corn on the cob (one of her favorite snacks) and mini fruit tarts.  Mom had a sweet tooth so I know she loved the mini tarts that we bought for her. We hung out with her for a bit while my niece, Kyra, ran around in the grass making funny faces.

Birthdays are not about counting the candles that you have on your cake, the additional year of wisdom you’ve gained, or the gray hair that you find on your head. It’s about celebrating life with the people who are still here with us as well as those who have passed on.  I couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend my day today than with fruit tarts at the top of my mom’s little hill overlooking the 605 freeway…laughing, reminiscing, celebrating, sharing, embracing, and enjoying the peacefulness.

Make a wish and blow out the candles Momma.

Love,
Kimmie

Taking ordinary things and making them extraordinary. 

I was asked recently about my creative process; how I go about creating my pieces. Whenever I’ve been asked that in the past, I always respond by saying, “the same way that I cook my meals…I just throw whatever makes me happy into the pot and make it pretty.” And quite frankly, that’s the simple honest truth to my creative madness.

What I find special about my art is that I like to take something random, possibly broken, though most likely new and pair it with something else to give it meaning. I was never great at drawing, wasn’t really able to stay inside the lines when I colored, hated cutting or sewing straight lines.  Thus, whenever I am crafting I like to just let my heart take over and tell my hands what to do.  It’s not about creating something perfect. It was about creating something that tickled my heart and puts a smile on someone’s face. It was about restoring memorable moments, a childhood activity, a hint of hope…Most importantly, it is about love – loving what I do, loving my mom, loving life, loving the world – and how I use that passion and love to create beautiful things that inspires, touches and changes others in a positive way.

I don’t always get the project right the first time. Sometimes I scrap the entire project because it didn’t come out the way I wanted it to, but luckily most of the time the finished product is better than I had imagined it to be. So while I do not mold my own clay, but probably can if I wanted to spend my time doing that, I am able to conceptualize what type of clay piece I’m looking for and how I want the piece to look when I’m done making what I’m making to satisfy my late night creative cravings. The pieces that I make has to connect to me in a special way even if I’m creating a custom order for someone. 

Love Kimmie is not just my boutique’s signature brand or a way to mass produce and sell tons of expensive things to the general public. It represents the loving bond that I share with my mom and the love and passion that I put into creating pretty things that touches another person’s heart in a deep and meaningful way, even if it only speaks to one person’s heart.

I hope this made sense and gives everyone a better insight into my creative world.

Love,
Kimmie

I loved that people stopped by – other artists, their parents, the models – to check out my little boutique. For the first time ever, I framed and displayed pictures of my mom at an event. I wanted people to see how beautiful my mom was and for them to connect to her in a special way.  This was my way of inviting people into my “room” and to feel the love and happiness that I feel each day through my art.  The flickering candlelight against the lace and chiffon curtains, the beautifully accessorized dress form, the mini mother-daughter tea party ring set, the handmade banner personally sewn by Jasmine (owner of YourSweetTreat), and even the handmade flower hair clips neatly placed in a vase were all created especially for this event. To see how the guests’ eyes light up, and to know that I was able to touch their hearts in a meaningful way, made me so happy.

There were so many highlights from the evening that I can’t possibly write about every single one, but one that I will share is when my friend, Kiet, bought two of my handmade cards and said that I had inspired him to write to his mom more often, especially since she lives in another state.  That made me smile from the inside out.

Love Kimmie was very well loved by everyone. The positive feedback that I received was very reassuring and uplifting; I feel like I can tackle my next two events with more ease and confidence after seeing how much everyone enjoyed visiting my booth (some came back a second, third and even fourth time!!). Best of all, I loved that I had the chance to tell people about my mom and how she inspired and continues to inspire me to positively change the world around me.

I am very blessed and so thankful for the tremendous support that I received from my family and friends who drove in from different parts of Southern California to pre-celebrate my mom’s birthday with me. And, a special thank you to my fiance, Ken, of course. I couldn’t have done this show without him because he was the one who drove me to the event, helped me set-up, fed me healthy food, cheered me on, packed up everything at the end of the night, and gave me a big hug to tell me how proud he was of me.  I know, he’s pretty amazing. [Go ahead, you can say, "awwww."].

All in all, this was a great platform for featuring my work alongside so many talented people. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would be asked to be a part of such an amazing network of artists!  Kaila Yu and her team were phenomenal in every way.  They truly embraced me as an artist and made it easy to connect with other artists from the very beginning.

Stay tuned for information about the upcoming Raw Artists’s RAWards 2011. National voting for the awards begin October 1st and ends October 15th.  Check out the link for additional voting guidelines because I will be reminding you to vote each and everyday!!

2011 RAWards Press Release

Love,
Kimmie

What Is Raw?
RAW:natural born artists is an independent arts organization that hand-selects and spotlights independent creatives in visual art, film, fashion, music, hair & makeup artistry, photography, models and performing art.

RAW’s mission is to provide up-and-coming artists of all creative realms with the tools, resources and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity so that they might be seen, heard and loved. RAW educates, connects and exposes emerging artists in 22 artistic communities nationwide through monthly showcase events. Join us in celebrating the work of these artists.

http://www.rawartists.org

It’s been a very blessed year for me and so I’d like to take a moment and share some of my favorite memories from this year’s events.

Through the Etsy Boutique, tea parties, and other events KBB has been able to support local organizations that provide services to communities in Southern California. One of my biggest charities is the Los Angeles Mission and through my holiday gift giving project, my family, friends and I have been able to share some of the love and joy with others through gift giving. What started out as a family get together for my 28th birthday turned into an annual event where family and friends gather at my house to wrap Christmas gifts for children at the shelter. I love sitting back to watch my little nieces and nephews hand select and wrap the presents for other children who are not as fortunate and to see how much joy and satisfaction they get out of helping someone else.  I’m beyond thrilled to say that we’re able to donate more and more gifts each year. In 2008, we donated over 60 presents to young boys and girls and in 2010, over 100 gifts were delivered!

My mom loved the holidays and while we loved opening our presents Christmas morning, the magic of the holiday was not what was inside the box but rather the time that we spent with each other.  Holidays for my family is more than magic, it’s a car full of love and joy that puts a smile in people’s heart no matter how difficult the times may seem.

I feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity to use my creativity in a meaningful way and look forward to the endless possibilities in 2011.

Happy Anniversary KBB! And, thank you Mommy for loving me and for always reminding me that superheroes don’t need a cape to be “super.”

Love,
Kimmie