Aftermath: Part III - LA reception

From Mexico, we flew into LA to spend Christmas and to prepare for the LA wedding reception. During the week, Alice and I sweatshopped for several projects. The first was to wrap these cute teddy bears that my Uncle Jamie's company makes, to be used as favors. My mom asked for them to be made with our names "Ryan" and "Jessica" on the front paws, and "Gordon" and "12-14-08" (date of wedding) on the back paws. We cut up cellophane, wrapped them, and tied with gold wire ribbon.


The second project was to make TJ's truffle brownies, package them in cellophane, and top with a little confetti cut out that I had leftover from the wedding. My mom insisted that I hand these out personally to each guest as they leave the reception so we stacked them in a basket that I could carry. These turned out especially cute.


The last project was to wrap potted poinsettia plants that we got from Home Depot (half off!) and add a gold ribbon.


The reception turned out to be a hit. My mom had invited our relatives and a lot of her church friends (many of whom I had never met). Everyone was super nice and generous with big smiles on their faces. I did feel like a behemoth with my heels on, towering over the masses, but that was to be expected. Here's a pic of my mom giving a little speech before dinner. She's too cute.


And the happy couple - I was wearing jewelry that my cousin in Taiwan made for me as a wedding gift.


Here's a pic of me that looks terrible but Alice and Kara look super cute so I'm posting it...*sigh* the sacrifices I make...


And finally I wrap up the Aftermath series with pictures of a random pasta meal we made and our Christmas meal that my sis and I made - rib roast, buttermilk rolls, sauteed zucchini with veggies and feta cheese, garlic mashed potatoes, and a RIDICULOUSLY delicious double layer chocolate cake, of which I know I ate about half of it.