A.M. P.M.

Before I met Tom, I was a total night-owl. I would often stay up watching TV until midnight and I loved to sleep in until 10am or 11am the next day. Late afternoons and early evenings would be my "prime time" as my brain started to awaken and I found myself more alert.

Tom is just the opposite. Like his dad, he loves the mornings and he LOVES to wake up early. He is chipper and energetic while I am crabby and cranky. Tom would wake up, be ready to go, and essentially hit the ground running. In the event that we had to get up early for a roadtrip or something, I would often comment to Tom, "Can you believe all these people are out on the road already?!?" He would reply, "People like to get up early."

I couldn't understand why any reasonable person would voluntarily wake up at 6am or 7am, or eek(!), even earlier, unless you worked in construction or had some sort of (awful) employment which required it.

But since I've known Tom, I have really come to appreciate the value of waking up early. For one thing, you can accomplish so much more in the day. For another thing, like most animals, humans are diurnal (as oppose to nocturnal) so it is best to be productive during the day. Finally, as an added bonus, there are very few things that beat the crisp morning air.

Glue

Everyone loves to hate big conglomerates, but I have to say, when it comes to glue and other things adhesive, I vow to only by 3M products from now on. While I love generic brands as much as the next person, I have found generic glue sticks and packing tape to be *noticeably* far less superior than 3M products. Even though 3M products costs sometimes three times as much as generics, they are worth the grievances in my book.

Wedding Tips

There are TONS of wedding tips out there - online, in books, you name it! So I figured, why not add my two cents? Here are my top 5 Saves & Splurges for a wedding:

Splurge

1. Photographer - Given that Tom and I are both students right now, I was astounded by some photographers asking for $6,000-$10,000 to take pictures at your wedding! I had really given up on finding a photographer at our going rate until I met Didi at a law school function. She seemed like a really nice person and she sympathized with our student-situation and gave us a generous discount. Because photographs and your memory are all that remain from your wedding, I highly recommend hiring a professional rather than asking friends or family, or leaving it unassigned.

2. DJ - We had specific songs we wanted to play for each event (i.e. for the flower girl, ring bearer, seating of the mothers, and the couple's dance). We also wanted to incorporate karaoke as part of our reception. Finding a DJ who is also a KJ is no easy feat, but we did it!

3. Florist - I splurged on the flowers for the wedding party but bought these bright yellow chrysthanemums from Home Depot for the centerpieces.

4. Open Bar - Apparently it's highly kosher to have an open bar at a wedding, which we did.

5. Food - We love to eat, so we served salmon, steak, beans, salad, rolls, corn on the cob, potato salad, fruit crisps, plus two types of cake!

Save

1. Cake - We bought our wedding cake and groom's cake from Costco. All cakes are made from flour, butter, and sugar, and they all taste the same, so why not?

2. Personalized Items - At first I did look into personalizing ribbons with our names and date, but the cost was going to be something like $10 for a yard of ribbon. Thinking that most of these are going to end up in the trash, I went with a generic red gingham ribbon that matched our tableclothes. I don't think anyone noticed the difference. We chose to personalize our wedding in other ways by giving every out-of-town guest a welcome bag.

3. Invitations & Notices - Again, most Save-the-Date notices end up in the trash or buried in a drawer so we sent out our Save-the-Date with a picture of the two of us in a .pdf via email. Luckily for me, I had the time and materials to make my own invitations for the wedding, rehearsal dinner, and family brunch.

4. Decorations - I used the same tin pails for the rehearsal dinner as I did for the wedding reception. For the rehearsal dinner, I filled them with salt water taffy and flowers the next night. Guests got to eat the taffy and take home a tin-ful of flowers. Thanks IKEA!

5. Dress - I know that not every bride can do this, but I got an $80 wedding dress from J.Crew because the style was discontinuing! It didn't bother me none since it was exactly what I was looking for - a long ivory halter. Also, we skimped on the tux and Tom just wore his suit, keeping with our wedding "informal."

Cheers!