the Ao Dai

Last week's shopping search for an ao-dai was very successful. My sister was able to find her dress off the rack, straight from Viet Nam. That saved her some money from having to pay for it to be custom made. My Vietnamese speaking skills (if you can call it that) came in handy when bargaining for a lower price as well. What I have learned in the past is that it never hurts to bargain. The worst they could say is, "no." I lucked out and actually got a discount.

Here is my gown I wore on my wedding day. I pulled it out to see if I could squeeze back into the tiny thing.

I love it and still do. Born and raised in the states, you tend to sometimes lose a lot of the traditions your parents grew up valuing so it was nice to have that traditional Vietnamese ceremony along with the typical American ceremony with the typical white wedding gown.

And the verdict? It fits (if I inhale deeply and don't exhale)! That's not bad, considering all the pregnancies I have had.

A. is checking me out and saying he wants to wear one of his own...so

Here he is sporting R.'s ao-dai. Isn't he just adorable???

Don't for get the headpiece

Am I cute or what? Don't you dare say, "what."

We just celebrated our wedding anniversary. Here we are renewing our vows a few years ago. It was nice to say our vows and make our promises to each other again. A. wasn't born yet when we renewed our vows so I hope to renew our vows again some day with all my children present.

As for my sister's gown, she went with the very traditional red color. Here is a sneak peak. Don't scroll down if you don't want to see (I am talking about you "Annie").

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More pictures to come after the wedding in November!