Business Associates Apreciation Party

A couple of weeks ago, I helped my colleague Oksana throw a cocktail party.

It was an appreciation party for people in the wedding industry,

and also to showcase Oksana's stationary business, Details by Oksana.

It was held in a beautiful bridal shop, R-mine Bridal in Studio City.

(All pictures by Christy Stallcup Photography)

More pictures in Portfolio section.

Kimono Show

The fashion show, Kimono Girl Retro Pop x American Vintage was a HUGE success.

So many people came to see the show, and all the girls looked gorgeous.

On the day of, I was in charge of prepping the models.
Setting the food station for staff or getting all the 16 models ready by the rehearsal time,
juggling the hair/make up staff, kitsuke (dressing the kimono) staff,
and coordinating with the photo station for the model's portrait.

                            (photos above by Kazumi san)

I had a tremendous sense of accomplishment once I sent over all the models

(a little later than scheduled, but made it nontheless).

And I got the chills as all the models gathered on the stage at the finale of the show.

                                                                      (photo by Royal/T)

I had so much fun working with amazing people. It was a great experience.

I learned so much for running a fashion show, media approach, getting sponsors, etc.

Now that its' over, I feel exhausted, accomplished and empty all at the same time.

I'll post more about the event once I'll get more pics.

PS. After the event was all over, we had a surprise birthday celebration for

this event's main person Rinko san and one of the makeup artists.

Kazumi san from ebisu Roll made an amAAAAzing cake for us, and we all devoured that.

I ate this green tea cake, and it was BOMBlicious.

One more week!

The big show (Kimono Girl Retro Pop x American Vintage) is only one week away!!
Anxious and excited at the same time. Can't wait!

                                                                (photo by Rieko Okawa)

Final rehearsal

Sunday, we had a final rehearsal for the kimono fashion show.

All the models are SO cute.
Here they are practicing the dance moves.

I can't wait to see the final outcome of this show with all the models, lighting, music, etc...
It's going to be a great show. Can't wait!

Crunch time!

It is almost two weeks away from the kimono fashion show!

I'm in charge of the media approach and PR, and slowly but surely, we're getting some exposures.

Event listing in LA.com
Ad listing in Beverly Hills Courier
TV interview by Nippon Television, etc...

I also got some positive responses by LAist.com and Free Fun Los Angeles Guide.
Hopefully they will a little write-up about the event.

Sunday is the final rehearsal for the show.
Since I joined the team in the middle of the planning, I haven't met all the staff members and models.
It'll be exciting to meet everyone.

                                                                                                                                                         (photo by Rieko Okawa)

God, I love this job!!
One day, I'll do this EVERY single day. Baby steps, baby steps...

Emergency Kit

I'm thinking about putting together an emergency kit for me to bring to every events I'll work on.

Safety pins, lint roller, boob tapes for the bride, flashlight... stuff like that.
And I need a good carrying case for it.
I'm eyeing this one now... It's a professional makeup case, but I think it's pretty stylin.

I feel legit

My profile is on the website for the kimono fashion show!!

Yes. I feel legit. With my picture and everything. Yay!!

New Project!

One of the incredible ladies I met at the networking event I went to the other day, was Ms. Rinko Kimino.
She is a kimono stylist and authoer, and she told me about this fashion show she's doing in December.

Of course I wanted to be part of it, so I asked her if I can help in any way.
And she introduced me to the project manager of the event.

I just had the first meeting with her last night, and it looks like a SUPER exciting gig! There are so much to do and so little time, but I think this will be a great event. Everyone working for this event is a volunteer, but they all are professional. I think it's fantastic that people are coming together to accomplish something new. I'm glad that I can be part of it.

Like Steve Jobs said, life is about connecting dots. It feels like, once I opened the door to the direction I want to go, these dots keep appearing.

And it's up to me to connect them.

Saddlerock Ranch Wedding

You can see the beautiful pics of the wedding I worked for Gianna in Saddlerock Ranch back in May at Gianna's blog.

And I JUST saw this couple on KTLA this morning talking about a honeymoon site they used!

JCWN event

The other night, I went to an open house event for JCWN (Japanese Career Women's Network). I got to meet and talk to many women who work in different fields.

It was the first time I introduced myself as an (still aspiring but nonetheless) event planner.
It felt really good!!

When I told my story, everybody was very encouraging. Some people even said that I inspired them to do better at their job too. I'm flattered beyond words.

First business card!

I got my first business cards made!! Since I can't make my own company yet, the designer, Oksana came up with the cutest title for me.

"passionate event planner/assistant"

 

LOVE!!

The business card is so simple yet edgy. I love it!!

I'm going to a networking event for Japanese career women tonight. This will be the first time I mingle as an event planner. Cant' wait! And coincidentally... I'm done with the internship with Gianna, and now an independent contractor for her!! Woo hoo!

GAP event @ House of Blues

About a month ago, I helped Gianna run a charity show in House of Blues.

It was an fundraising event for an organization called, Grandparents As Parents (GAP).
We had the celebrity MC by McKenzie Wesmore and performance by Deena Martin (daughter of Dean Martin), who was really a good entertainer.

I went up and down the stairs (mostly running) about million times that day.
Tiring, but definitely fun times.

It was my first time helping out Gianna with the event other than weddings.
The principle is the same: To make the client happy.
But there are so many different elements from weddings and I really enjoy it.
It was a good change of scene.

The most cool part was that after the event, Gianna told me, that Deena Martin thought Gianna and her PARTNER (yours truly!!!) totally ran the show and we work for House of Blues.
The fact she thought I was Gianna's "partner" was cool enough
and she thought we work for HOB? That was pretty awesome.

More details on the event, see Gianna's blog here.

Don't Settle

I'm a little late to blog about this, but after seeing so many posts on Facebook about Steve Job's fantastic Commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005, I finally saw the speech on YouTube.

I was deeply touched. Brought me tears, actually.
No wonder so many people said "thank you" to Mr. Jobs after he passed rather than "good bye." I want to thank him too.

The part that hit my core the most was the part about lost and love.

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

I feel very fortunate that I did find what I really love to do.
Sure, it took me about 10 years after college to realize it, but I did find it.
And I'm doing it.
It gets discouraging and scary at times when I think about uncertain future and the pay cuts I'll most likely have to take when I start my own business as an event planner.
But like Mr. Jobs said, I should never settle.
And I hereby promise, that I will NOT give up.

Wedding @ Cicada

Last Sat, I worked for a wedding at the Cicada restaurant in downtown LA.
This was a last wedding for the season.
And boy, what a perfect venue to complete the season!

It's in a historical art deco building, and it's just soooo darn sexy.
I might have to name this place as one of my favorite.
A lot of movies and TV shows are filmed here, including my fav, Mad Men!

The ceremony area looked like this.
The pictures don't do justice. It was beyond gorgeous.

                                                                                                                     (wedding design by Gianna and Company)

And then, during cocktail hour, we flipped the area to a reception area.
The elegant flower design was done by Lisa at Ixora Floral Studio and
overall design was by of course, my wonderful teacher, Gianna.

                                                                                                                     (wedding design by Gianna and Company)

This day, Gianna was sick and she had to leave to Japan the next day for business.  
So she left ME in charge for the last couple of hours!!!!
Word it upper...Don't worry Gianna, I got this!!

I was flattered that she asked me and everything went without a hitch.
High five to myself!


Overall, I think I learned and grew a lot this season.
And at every single wedding, I had a blast working.
I really REALLY enjoy working at events and weddings.

I can't wait to come back to another season next year!!

Greystone Mansion wedding

Last Sat, I experienced a wedding at a famous Beverly Hills park, Greystone, as an assistant for Gianna.

It's a very beautiful venue with tons of history.
And they have killer stairs!! I think my butt got a little firmer...

It's a public park, so you're bound to have some extra audiences,
but it's a gorgeous outdoor venue.

                                                                                                                    (wedding design by Gianna and Company)

This was my first day wedding to work for.
I learned that a daytime wedding can be done a little cheaper than a nighttime wedding
because you don't need heaters or lighting, etc.

                                                                                                                    (wedding design by Gianna and Company)

The cutest thing about this day's wedding was the cake toppers!!
They had dog sculptures made out of chocolate, eating the cake.
Adorbs!!

                                                                        (wedding design by Gianna and Company)

This year's wedding season will be over with a this weekend's wedding.

It's a final sprint!!

SUCCESS!!

The Pleasure of Pig Parts and Beer event was a huge success.
We had a good turnout of about 50 people.

Although there was a little mishap with food orders that went out
(completely my mistake), things went smoothly
thanks to all of the professional crews.

I probably shouldn't mention about the mistake I made, but this is a blog about my journey to BECOME the kickass planner, so I want to be honest.
I think every mistake I make will lead to a success later.
And a good thing is... not many people noticed the order change,
and it will not happen again. NEVER!!

Anyways, I digress.

The food by Curbside Cravings was beautifully presented and delicious. And beers paired specifically for those food were just perfect. My favorite was the ice cream float made with Manifest beer from Eagle Rock Brewery and coconut ice cream.
It was surprisingly tasty. Yumness.

I was happy about many things that day, but mostly,
I was really glad to see that many people showed up
and enjoyed the event as Karena had envisioned it in the first place.

I have thrown many parties with Karena before,
but this was my first time coordinating the "paid" event.
And I had a blast!!

This experience confirmed my passion for running events and that I can really do this.
Also, I reaffirmed that having a great team is truly the key for a successful event.
And I had one hell of a team.



Thank you everyone for making it happen.

You can read more on how the event went down in Karena's blog here.

It's Almost PIG time!

The pork and beer tasting event is finally this weekend.
Lots of last minutes things to!!

We got a nice write ups in blogs and even in LA Weekly!!
What the what!

Tasting Table's pretty nice write up

LA weekly lists our event up as one of the top 5 things to do on this weekend.

Let's do this THANG!!!

The Pleasure of Pig Parts and Beer

I'm helping out my BFF Karena for this event, "The Pleasure of Pig Parts and Beer" on Sep 18.

It's a Filipino food (all pork! my favorite meat!) and beer pairing event.
Food will be provided by Curbside Cravings and beer will be provided by Eagle Rock Brewery and selection by Michael Milan of Verdugo Bar.

A couple of famous food bloggers are supposedly coming.
We gotta make sure everything is ON POINT!!
And you know we will. Can't wait for this!!!

Event details here.

Pool Party

Even if it's just a small pool party at home...

If we're having people over, the set up gotta be on point!
This day, we had margarita and Korean tacos!