Out with the old, in with the new.

2008 was a great year.
I'm actually really sad to see it go, but I have a
feeling that 2009 is going to be even better.

Why?

Well, I have a lot of things to look forward to:

- Beginning school again for my licensure. Scary, but exciting.

- A new blog being unveiled sometime early in the year.

- Some new home renovations.

- Comic-Con 2009 for my birthday!

- No Doubt tour after years & years of waiting!

Along with great things waiting on the horizon of '09,
I also have made some resolutions for the new year to
hopefully make it that much greater.

Resolutions for 2009:

- Lose those 10+ pesky pounds that
crept up on me during my
first year as a married lady.

- Believe in myself. I am capable.

- Stay more positive.

- Grow out my hair again (this may
seem silly, but it's truly a challenge
for me).

- Continue to grow closer to my little
partner in life: the hubs.

- Get serious & learn photography basics.

- Finally learn how to cook!

- Keep my creative juices flowing.

- Try to live in the moment & continue to
enjoy every minute of my amazing life.

- Be even more demonstrative with my family.
I love them & don't tell them quite as much.

- Continue to foster the ridiculously awesome
friendships I have made over the past couple
of years. I love you guys so much.

And with that, I hope all of you have a drunken
night filled with happiness and love, but please
be safe!

Goodbye 2008 & hello 2009!
♥

Merry Christmas!!!!

The always adorable Plumzilla

Melificent wishes you a very Merry Christmas!!!!
I hope you all get to spend today with your closest
family & friends & enjoy both the giving & receiving!

The hubs & I are taking a last minute weekend trip to
Disney World so I'll see you all next week!

Much ♥!!

Year in Review: 2008

Where did this year go? Am I the only one that felt like it
was over in the blink of an eye? Does that mean I'm getting old?
Did life hit the fast forward button?

I have noticed that I've been using the phrase "When I was..." a
lot. Shit. I'm turning into an old bitty already. In an attempt
to hold on to my youth, here's my year in review:

Favorite movie:
The Dark Knight. I think it was done so well. Such an epic movie.
Although I think it runs about 30 minutes too long, you cannot
deny its awesome-ness.
I also give Cloverfield an honorable mention because I thought it
was innovative & clever especially with all its virals leading up
to the premiere (fake news casts, Myspace profiles, secret vlogs).

Favorite concert:
This is definitely a no-brainer. The Smashing Pumpkins at
Mizner Amphitheather in Boca Raton,FL. After 8 years of waiting
not-so-patiently, I got to see my favorite band in the entire
world perform several inches in front of me. And as if that didn't
make me want to die happy, I then met Billy Corgan. Someone up
there in heaven must really love me.

Favorite guilty pleasure:
I'd definitely have to say the Twilight series.
It has made me lust after vampires and heighten my expectations
of males. Sorry, husband.

Favorite TV obsession:
It's a tie between Dexter and Heroes. Two shows that we marathoned
out in '08 and were completely spectacular. I really grew to love
the nights when we would pop DVD after DVD with such genuine excitement
and with plenty of beers in hand. I love all those characters like
family, it's kind of pathetic.

Favorite album:

Santogold - Self titled
Everyone seems to be angry at Santogold for going "mainstream," but
I'm glad she did because to me, she put out a fantastic album. Every
song puts a smile on my face and makes me want to crank up the volume
and listen with my windows down.


Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
I just adore this band. They are amazing both on record and live.
There's something very old school rock about them, they are down
and dirty and I love it. Another favorite of mine to crank on long
car drives. Every single song is good. My favorite kind of album.


Bloc Party - Intimacy
Although Bloc Party is not new to many, they were to me. This was the
first album of theirs I had ever listened to so maybe that's why I
found it to be so amazing. It makes me want to put my dancing shoes
on.


MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Such a new, fresh sound and I adore it. It's nice to hear something
that you feel like you haven't heard before. A very psychedelic poppy
album that makes you want to give the world a big group hug.


Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
This album is amazing. I have the utmost respect for someone that can
mash up Kelly Clarkson and Nine Inch Nails and make people scream for
more. I can't tell you how excited I am to see him live in April.


Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Another fabulous album by the Raconteurs, who are proving to be one of
my favorite bands of all time. Excellent songwriting, singing, and
melodies. Another band that blew me away live.

Favorite blog:
Dlisted. No other blog makes me laugh harder or more often
than Dlisted. Whenever I have a crappy day, it makes it better. I
do not know the author's name or what they look like, but I definitely
want to have all his gay babies. I love you, Mr. Dlisted.

Favorite moment:
This is twofold as well. Both our anniversary cruise to the Southern
Caribbean and when I passed my thesis defense. Our cruise was amazing
and I felt it brought Augi and I closer together as a couple. Even though
I love my husband to death, sometimes life gets in the way and it's very
hard to keep the romance alive day in and day out. It's reasons like
these that make romantic getaways so important.
I also could not begin to explain the feeling of complete elation that I
felt when I finally passed and completed my master's thesis after several
painstakingly terrible years that really tested my self confidence & my
inner drive. It was over. It is over. Halle-freaking-lujah!

Heroes Recap Tuesday!

Why not?

So although I was expecting a more action-filled last episode of Volume 3,
I was satisfied. Although I really could have done without the Saw-like
Sylar action at Pinehearst, I was happy to have Creepy!Sylar back. And you
know that bitch isn't dead. He's got some sexy Swat-ing to do in Volume 4.
And, was that Sylar's first shape-shift in the present? I think so!

Finally Peter grew a pair, fought his dickhead brother and got his damn powers
back. Even though the hero worship continued on - "I love you. You're my brother."
GAG. Jesus, Peter, stop being so freaking emo. Don't make the producers
bring back Emo-haired!Peter. I couldn't handle that travesty again.

I hate you, Tracy. I hate you, Jessica. I hate you, Nikki. Basically, I hate
every character they create for you, Ali Larter. Sorry. You fail.

Moving right along to Mohinder. So are you half cured, half monster reptile now?
I'm over your lizard-ness. I vote for the return of Mylar. Anyone with me?

Finally, Hiro. My second favorite character. So glad they redeemed his powers as
well and that he's out of the damn past & future scenario's. I read some spoilers
stating that they would no longer be using the time traveling come Volume 4 and I'm
actually glad. They were using it way too much whenever they hit a dead end. Hiro,
you are my hero. YATTA!

I can't wait for Volume 4: Fugitives. Looks bad ass. And according to producers, they
are trying to live up to the always glorious Season 1. The little sneak peak looked pretty
awesome. Honestly, I was expecting President Palmer to appear under the shadows in the
limo with Nathan. Now that would be some hot shit!

Until Febuary....
♥

ps: You can find the adorable Heroes puppets here!

Wait for it...

I'm no stranger to being compared to television characters that I
have never heard of. For about 2 years or so, I was told by friends,
coworkers and even complete strangers that I looked just like "the girl
from Just Shoot Me. Who? I had never even heard of the show.
Turns out they were referring to Laura San Giacomo. I don't really see
much of a similarity and I never watched one episode of Just Shoot Me
so I can't really say whether our personalities were similar at all.

Point being, I never really took any of these comparisons seriously.
Just recently, I began hearing once again from my friends that my husband
and I resembled a couple on a new TV show. I shrugged it off since I had
never heard of the show before, How I Met Your Mother. It wasn't
until a coworker brought over Season 1 of the show last year that I was
introduced to Lily and Marshall.

And it was scary.
Not only was the show hysterical and right up my alley comedy-wise, but
this couple played by Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan were the spitting
image of myself and Augi. We became hooked and have watched all seasons
and are currently caught up with the current one. Augi referred to it as
"watching his life unfold in front of him." Sometimes we just look at each
other in disbelief because the similarities are just uncanny. Our friends
swear that the writers of the show have a webcam hidden somewhere in our
home to get new material.

Examples?


Marshall & Lily imagining their futures...separately.


Lily's loud chewing.


And I saved the best for last: Marshall's very Star Wars Thanksgiving.

Legendary.

Man Candy

Geez, I'm a sucker for tall goofy dudes.
I have such a thing for Zachary Quinto.



Volume 4 sneak peak courtesy of the awesome fankids at ODI,
my constant source of Heroes & LOST info.

Holiday Love

I can admit, I can be a grinch during the holidays.
They are not always my favorite and tend to make me
feel very anxious, but I do try my best to be as
loveable as possible. Afterall, it isn't that hard -
who doesn't love me? ;)

Joking aside, I thought this was a really cute meme
making its rounds on the Internets and figured it would
brighten my day a little to hear some nice things from
the people that read this blog. So here we go:

Here's the plan: People will comment ANONYMOUSLY with
things they love and cherish about you. I say anonymously because
it makes the atmosphere lighter and more mysterious, kind of like
a Secret Santa only with love and holiday cheer! People will wonder
who these caring people are and appreciate the fact that they exist.

Then find people you care about and have something nice to say to -
even if you don't know them! - and leave them something that will make
their heart feel a little warmer at night. This way, the love will go
around and around and the magical spirit of the season can be cherished
and appreciated by all.

Don't forget to pass the goodwill on to others and increase the flow of
positive, caring energy!

And GO!

All dogs go to heaven

Unfortunately, today is an extra morose Monday.
I'm sad to have to post that my father-in-law's
boxer of 10 years passed away this morning.



Last week the vet discovered cancer covering the
majority of her body. She was in a lot of pain &
had been heavily medicated since. I was lucky enough
to say my goodbye's last week and am now remembering
all the memories.



Dogs are such amazing creatures. All they want is to
love and expect absolutely nothing in return. Nala
was no different. She was an incredibly intelligent
and loving dog. She was spoiled, of course, but always
made you smile.

She was the third wheel of Augi & I's relationship.
Wherever we were, she wasn't too far behind. And I'll
never forget her.

I don't think anyone ever will.



Rest in peace, Nala girl. We all love you very much.

Twilight fuckery

Thanks to a lot of pressuring (from both media & friends), I picked up
a copy of Twilight right before we left on our cruise to see what
all the hype was about.

I became hooked.
Very hooked.

I loved every second of it and was suddenly extremely excited about the movie.
When we arrived back in Puerto Rico and disembarked from our ship, I (naturally)
checked my Twitter. It was enundated with negativity towards the movie and I was
pretty bummed. It couldn't be that bad, right?

Wrong.

Thankfully I was able to score a bootleg online because those were two hours &
would have been $10 of my life that I would never get back. Who the hell thought
this was a good interpretation of the book? Most importantly who did the casting??
When did Eric become gay and start using catch phrases like "homegirl?" Alice was
not petite and pixie-like as I had imagined her. Rosalind was far from
drop dead gorgeous and please please don't get me started on Edward.

I know many people will disagree with me since he is "so hawt, OMGZ," but no.
No no no no no no. No. He looks stoned all the time and just came across as a pompous
asshole. The Edward Cullen from my imagination was sexy, intelligent and loved Bella
more than life itself. They couldn't even get their immeasurable love right on the
screen. It was just awkward and over-acted. And that made me sad.


No no no no.

I can only hope that they can switch around directors/producers/cast as the
series continues because watching four amazing books get wrecked is going to be
way more painful than one.

What do you guys think?
Agree? Disagree?

Twitter

Do you Twitter?
B/c I do! And if you don't, you probably should.

It's a great way to keep in touch with friends and
a lot more interactive than Facebook's status updates.
Plus, you can get them straight on your phone through
applications like twitterific.

I started to Twitter a long long time ago, but fell off
the wagon when no one I knew was participating. Now it
seems like everyone has a Twitter. Even Greg Grunberg who
plays Matt Parkman on Heroes, Dave Matthews and Batman.
Yes, Batman.

So get your booty on Twitter and don't forget to add me
(Mrszero) if you want to keep up with my dull & self-centered
life. ;)

A very nerdy birthday

So although my rockstar bash feels like only yesterday, here I am
planning next year's extravaganza. I promised myself that this year
would be my last "big party" until the momentous and traumatizing 3-0
and I don't quite think that I kept my promise very well.

Both the hubs and I have decided to take my birthday to the road next
year and attend Comic Con International in San Diego. It just so happens
to fall the week of my birthday so it's perfect! This is not the first
time we attend Con, we went 4 years ago in 2004 and we had such a blast.
Highlight definitely being the LOST panel where we were present for
a Q&A session with the cast and then watched the series opener months before
it aired.

For those of you who are not familiar with Comic Con, it is ultimately a
comic book convention that turned into so much more. It's now probably one
of the biggest pop culture events in the US housing all sorts of toys, art,
and games along with plenty of appearances from celebrities that feed into
the geek culture. Basically, it's like Disney World for nerds. And it is fun.
And we are going. And I'm so excited. Because, yes people, I am a nerd.

I've invited some of my closest friends that really enjoy the fandoms to
come with us and hopefully everyone will be able to make it! I also hope
to meet some pretty awesome celebs and pick up some fun art or toys!

Do you think Melificent can get some press passes?

Vaca Recap

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving with those you love -
I know I did! Unfortunately, I had to be in the office this morning
and I'm wishing I was still in bed with the hubs and the pups, but
I keep telling myself it'll be over soon. ;)

So to beat the sleepiness and laziness that comes along with a
belly full of turkey, I am here to keep you entertained (at least
for a few minutes) with a slideshow of pictures from our first
anniversary trip!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Have a fabulous weekend!
♥

ps; The first few images on the slideshow are videos, so ignore those! Hehe.

Happy day of Turks.

I wish all of my readers and their families a very happy, safe &
gluttonous Thanksgiving! Remember everything you are thankful for -
it is amazing all the things we take for granted.

Gobble gobble!
♥

Sexiest Man Alive

This year, the Sexiest Man Alive prize went to perhaps my
#1 fictional boyfriend: Hugh Jackman! How do you like that,
Clooney?

You may have a turdy movie coming out that will surely tank
in the box office, but at least you have your looks!!!

And of course, Origins, which is going to be flipping
ridiculous.

Back to life; back to reality

And we're back!!!!
Technically we got back on Sunday night, but things have
been pretty hectic since our return so I hadn't been able
to post until tonight.

We had such a great time on our cruise and thank everyone
that sent us all the happy anniversary wishes via email,
facebook and text messages. We are very lucky to be able
to share our love with so many amazing people!

I am going to try my best to put together all my photos and
videos from the trip and make a fun post during the holiday
weekend.

♥!

Bon Voyage!!!

Augi and I will be sailing the high seas for the next week so this blog
will be inactive until our return! I hope you all are having a great
weekend and have a fantastic week to come. We'll bring back a lot of
fabulous pictures and great videos - promise!

Who knows? Maybe I'll have a {vacation week} next! ;)

♥ you all!

{wedding week}: Pro Pictures!

And it's a wrap! Today marks the end of wedding week and I really hope you
all enjoyed it. It seems like you all did from the results on my latest poll
and that makes me immensely happy. I'm always worried this blog is boring and
that no one is reading, but seeing people actually voting (& positively at that!)
has definitely given me an ego boost in regards to my little space in the
blogosphere!

Anyways, back to my final wedding related post:
My wedding day was absolutely fantastic. I could not have asked for a better
day/night. I wish I could relive it over and over again. It was so full of love
and happiness, which in reality is all you need in life. I hope these pictures
reflect all the wonderful emotions we felt that day as well as the love that
Augi and I share with one another. It really is so special and I feel so lucky
to be married to my best friend and the most amazing man in my little universe.

This has been the most wonderful year and I cannot wait for all the rest to come!!!
We ship out Sunday morning to celebrate no longer being newlyweds (or are we still?)
on our Southern Caribbean cruise and will definitely return with stories, pictures,
and your basic regularly scheduled Meli-isms.

See you then!
♥


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
*All photo credits go to Maloman Photographers.

{wedding week}: Rehearsal Dinner

I remember how surreal the day/night of my rehearsal dinner was. I
could not believe that my wedding was that weekend. All our family
and friends were in town, we were running around doing last minute
errands and I was trying my best not to freak out! Actually, I was
pretty proud of myself for being so mellow (something I am usually
not).

The weather was amazing - very cool, breezy and sunny. I couldn't
have asked for better weather for an outdoor wedding.


Being a ham.


Although I was trying my best to be a goofball during this practice
down the aisle, inside I could not believe it was happening after TWO
years of planning.

Quickly after rehearsal, we headed to my father-in-law's home, where
both my in-laws were hosting the dinner. When I walked in through the
door, I was blown away. I don't know how many times I just gasped and
thanked them over and over again. The decor was stunning, everyone
commented that we should get married right there because everything
looked amazing!


Gorgeous table set up's with photo votives of us through the years!


Another shot of the longer tables.


The lounge area - cool or what???


The flying V groom's cake I ordered for Augi - how awesome did it turn
out? It was the hit of the party!


My gorgeous bridesmaids!


My gorgeous hubby-to-be! ;)

{wedding week}: Details!

Well, I think it's pretty obvious that I tend to focus on the details when
planning something from my previous posts, so I decided to give my wedding
details their own personal wedding week post!

The hubs and I did a lot of DIY projects throughout the course of our
wedding planning and although it was very stressful and tiring, I wouldn't
have had it any other way! We were able to personalize our wedding in a way
that would have been impossible with store bought items.

So without further ado, here were my glorious details:


Both his&hers CD favors with our favorite love songs.


Our menu's that the hubs designed and we printed ourselves.


MR & MRS letters that I bought and painted from Michael's for our sweetheart
table.


Our placecards that we also designed and printed ourselves.


Our ceremony programs that again, we designed and printed.


Petal cones that I put together myself so we could get pretty pretty petals
slapped in our faces ;)


Quite possibly my favorite detail: our guitar sign-in. Since my hubs is a
musician and we are both huge music fans, we figured it would be fitting.
The best part is that this was a wedding gift his mother gave his father on
their wedding day. It was a perfect way to retire it.

{wedding week}: Bridal Shower

I really really enjoy throwing parties. If you know me personally,
this is something you cannot deny. I love being around people, I love
making them happy and I just really really enjoy social events (with
people I like, of course). However, "showers" always turn me off. I
am not the girly type that enjoys opening present over present in front
of a crowd "ooooing" and "ahhhing." And don't get me started on stupid
games. So when it came time to plan my bridal shower, I wanted something
different.

I know it is not very traditional for the bride to plan her own bridal
shower, but I did. And I'm so glad I did. I was in control and I loved
it! I decided to have it at my father-in-law's amazing Italian restaurant
and kept the guest list under 30 to make it more intimate. I worked very
hard on making the afternoon very special and unique mostly due to all my
little details to fit my flower theme.



Delicious menu choices :)



Personalized Jello injectors - a family tradition.



Flower box favors with yummy M&M's inside.



Flowered guava cupcakes that were oh-so-delish!



My gorgeous centerpieces!



A wish bowl set-up for guests to leave me their well wishes.



A scrapbook of Augi & I's relationship made by my sister.


A very un-cheesy game of Meli Trivia!

All photos courtesy of Studio By Carmen.

{wedding week}: Decor

I scoured through many magazines, Knot bio's and watched plenty of
wedding shows during my engagement just to get some sort of idea of
the look I wanted to achieve for my own big day.

We went through various color schemes before deciding on light pink
and chocolate brown as our palette for the wedding.



It wasn't long after that we decided on a "look" for our wedding. We
are both not very flashy people and really liked the whole Asian
minimalistic feel that I kept spotting around my wedding blogs. Plus
I loved the juxtaposition of an extremely modern wedding at a historical
ancient venue.

These were our inspiration photos:

{wedding week}: "The Look"

Every bride knows that the best part of planning a wedding is getting
to go shopping for your gorgeous gown and I was no exception! Probably
a month after I got engaged, I started shopping with my fabulous
girlfriends. I knew I was ridiculous, but I didn't care. I love shopping,
I love fashion, so this was a dream come true. I tried on so many
ridiculously beautiful gowns (and ridiculously horrible ones) before
choosing "the one" at Chic Parisien on Miracle Mile, a very
popular wedding dress destination.

As I was walking around the store, the saleswoman kept grabbing all these
dresses she thought fit "my style," but as I passed by another bride
looking at herself in the mirror, I couldn't tear my eyes away from her
beautiful gown.
"I want to try on that one."

And the rest as they say, was history.



She was Monique Lhuillier's Nadia and she was stunning. I felt like a
princess yet still like me, which fit the feel I wanted to acheive.


I added an oatmeal colored sash and a gorgeous crystal and pearl brooch,
which was a gift from my mother to complete the outfit.

And finally to complete the entire bridal look, I wanted a loose and messy
updo with dramatic eyes and pale lips. These were my inspiration photos:



The final look the day of the wedding couldn't have come together more
perfectly had I tried! My hairdresser is always extremely talented, but I
felt like that day she had sprinkled some special fairy dust on those magic
hands of hers! My hair was truly a work of art.





And my gown was more gorgeous than I had remembered. Unfortunately, I have no real
bridal portraits to speak of from my wedding day, which is a bummer, but my hubs
reminds me every day of how beautiful I looked on November 17th and every day
that has followed.