UC Davis Ph.D. candidate Elizabeth Galindo designs costumes for stage and screen

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

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Originally published in The California Aggie

Leafing through a giant portfolio filled with photos of her many designs, couture fashion designer and historical film costume researcher Elizabeth Galindo can remember exactly how she designed, sewed, and accessorized every one of her signature gowns. After more than 20 years in the business, that’s a lot of dresses.

“This is all hand burnt velvet and it has 24-carat gold thread running through it,” Galindo says, pausing at a photo of Sophia Loren wearing an intricately patterned gold dress. “The beads are all glass beads from the island of Murano. The fabric alone took me six weeks, and then this was draped on her. That took about five fittings before we could start sewing.”

These days, Galindo has been a fixture on the UC Davis campus as she studies for her Ph.D. and, most recently, designed the costumes for the upcoming Theater and Dance Department production ofGallathea.

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The ins and outs of getting inked

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

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Originally published in The California Aggie

If there’s one thing you learn when talking to a tattoo artist, it’s that people want some very unique drawings on their bodies. Very, very unique.

“I did one of Wolverine riding My Little Pony,” said Urban Body Body Piercing and Tattoo artist Chris Yoakum as he carefully inked a horse and horseshoe on a young woman’s shoulder. “That seems random but it’s much less interesting if you know the story – the guy got it to commemorate his kids.”

Judging by the steady stream of customers that filled the colorful Davis shop last Saturday, it would seem that lots of people have a story they want to commemorate. Tattooing is more popular than ever, with kids as young as 18 and adults as old as 70 choosing to get inked. And that isn’t likely to change anytime soon, said Sacred Tiger Tattoo owner George Hernandez.

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What’s your word?

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

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Junior English and political science double major Kate Henka was tired of being called a “dumb blonde.”

So she wrote it on her forehead.

Wearing a dress, pearls and bright red glasses, Henka posed on the staircase of the UC Davis Art Building with “dumb” written across her forehead and “blonde” stretched across her cheeks as photographer Tommy Corey snapped away, offering occasional adjustments and direction.

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“Les Miserables” wedding flash mob goes viral

18 Monday Feb 2013

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Originally published in The Huffington Post

With less than one month to go before the release of the film adaptation of “Les Miserables,” musical theater-loving couples may find themselves dreaming a dream of incorporating The Great White Way into their nuptials. Allow us to give you a little inspiration, courtesy of one Danish couple and their insanely talented friends.

Back in May, Susanne and Sune Vibæk Svanekier posted a video on YouTube of their guests bursting out into a surprise rendition of “One Day More” from “Les Miserables.” Watch the video above to see the newlyweds’ friends take on the classic song, each standing during the reception to belt out the different parts.

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Bride and her dad perform amazing tap dance

18 Monday Feb 2013

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For their father-daughter dance, a Broadway-loving bride and her dad put on their dancing shoes — their tap dancing shoes, that is.

Heather and William Jones elevated the traditional wedding dance to a unique new level when they performed a tap dance to Gene Kelly’s “Broadway Melody” at Heather’s wedding to John Russell in Boston last month.

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Surprise marriage proposal: Man pops the the question at his own surprise birthday party

18 Monday Feb 2013

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Originally published in The Huffington Post

Katie Wanner thought her boyfriend, Blake Harris, was in for the biggest surprise when she shocked him with a 30th birthday party. But the tables were turned when he gave her a surprise of his own: a marriage proposal!

Harris posted a video on YouTube of himself proposing to Wanner at the surprise birthday party she threw for him at their apartment in Queens, New York on Friday (watch the video above).

Harris told HuffPost Weddings that he planned to pop the question at a restaurant in San Francisco on December 22. The engagement ring he bought for Harris wasn’t supposed to be ready for pick-up until Monday, but on Friday his jeweler called and told him it was ready early. So Harris happened to have the ring in his pocket when he arrived at his surprise party later that night.

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Bride surprised with wedding at fire station

18 Monday Feb 2013

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Originally published in The Huffington Post

When Brenda Wilson got in her friend’s car on Christmas Eve, she thought she was going to a late-night Christmas party. She didn’t know that she was actually headed to the local fire station — for her own wedding.

Just after midnight on Christmas morning, Brenda and Eryn Willson were married at the East Jordan, Michigan, Fire Hall, in a ceremony Eryn planned as a complete surprise for Brenda.

The couple of seven years are volunteer firefighters at the East Jordan Fire Hall. One week before Christmas, the fire chief and one of the couple’s friends came to Eryn with the idea to surprise Brenda with a firehouse wedding.

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High school sweethearts reunite, get engaged after 23 years apart

18 Monday Feb 2013

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Picture this: boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, girl moves away, boy and girl reunite and get engaged 23 years later. Though it sounds like a love story made for the big screen, that’s exactly what happened to high school sweethearts Laine Thompson and Lucas Blum.

Thompson told HuffPost that after meeting in choir class in 1989, she and Blum were inseparable. Blum even used to sketch her while she was doing homework (drawings Thompson said she saved for years). But she moved from their hometown of Freeport, Illinois, to southern California after graduation, and in the days before cell phones and email, a long-distance relationship didn’t work.

They both eventually moved on and married other people, only seeing each other once more at a friend’s wedding in 2001. But Thompson said Blum was always on her mind.

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Flickr story: Sophie Ellis, Patrick Eggert meet on photo-sharing site, get engaged

18 Monday Feb 2013

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A mutual love of photography was all it took to overcome the 5,000 miles between one (very) long-distance couple.

English photographer Sophie Ellis and Portland-based filmmaker Patrick Eggert met through photo-sharing platform Flickr in 2010, and in December 2012, the two became engaged — despite the fact that they live 5,000 miles apart.

Eggert, 24, and Ellis, 20, were both sharing photos from their “365” projects (in which photographers take a self-portrait every day for a year) on Flickr when Ellis commented on one of Eggert’s photos. Eggert then began commenting on Ellis’ photos, offering words of encouragement. Ellis told HuffPost Weddings that Eggert kept her motivated to keep working on her photography.

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Man proposes using Mardi Gras float

18 Monday Feb 2013

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One lucky lady got more than beads during Mardi Gras — she got a marriage proposal, too.

Joel Edwards posted a video Saturday of his proposal to his girlfriend, Megan Keegan, during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans. As you can see in the video above, the two were watching the parade when a “Frog Fest” float passed by, displaying a sign that said, “Megan Will You Marry Me? Joel.” Edwards then got down on one knee and offered Megan a ring, which she accepted.

Edwards told HuffPost Weddings that he was inspired to pop the question during Mardi Gras because, although he and Keegan currently live in Texas, they both grew up in Louisiana and met eight years ago while they were students at Louisiana State University.

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