Dream Theory

I had a really strange dream the other day. I dreamt that Tom bought a 28-room Victorian house for us before I even saw it. When I told Tom this, he said, oh that must have been a nightmare for you. LOL. The strange thing about this dream was how vivid everything was. The owners of this house were anxious to sell and so we bought this house for a ridiculously good price. The owners were also anxious to leave town and they left everything behind, including food in the fridge as well as their Golden retriever named Billie, and sold it "as is."

The previous owners were antique collectors, so the house was full of Victorian antiques, some valuable but mostly junk. In my dream, I surveyed every room to see what they had left behind and I can still recall every unusual trinket. I also remember this oddly shaped room that was painted blue. Tom had begun moving some of his stuff into this room, like his guitars and video games. I remember saying to him, "Well, where am I going to put my Stampin' Up! stuff?" He then opens up another room and says, "In here." 

There were two other strange things about this house. First, it was part of a townhome situated in the middle of a lovely park. Next to the house was a cute little outdoor cafe with chairs and tables outside, but it was closed indefinitely. And the townhome association had a "knight" theme and we had a knight's helmet as our door knocker. Second, I looked out the window at one point and could have sworn that I saw our neighbor, dressed in a full knight's armor, walking out his front door. When I pointed this out to Tom, we couldn't see anyone in a knight's costume except for joggers and their dogs running through the park.

So what was the point of my dream? I think it was a nightmare, but not for the same reason Tom gave. I think it's a nightmare because in real life, I hate Victorian homes and antiques because I think they're creepy. They are both items a dead person use to own. But the real petrifying part of the dream was that deep down, I knew that the previous owners were eager to split because the house was haunted. Not only that, but the house made some of its inhabitants go crazy and see visions that were either real or imaginary, such as the neighbor in a knight's armor. I have no idea where this dream came from because I wasn't thinking of Victorian houses earlier that day, but I guess it's easy to let your fears sneak up on you.

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!

What I learned from Jenny

I've tried the no-sugar, no-carb, nothing fried, low-carb, and the you-name-diet but nothing worked. I only seemed to be successful at maintaining my body weight, which according to an online BMI calculator, I was on the border of "normal" weight and over-weight. Not good. Something had to change -- and quick! -- and with seven more weeks until the wedding, I had no time to spare. So after watching an ad on TV for Jenny Craig, I decided to sign up.

My goal was simple: lose 10 pounds in 8 weeks. With Jenny Craig, and as with all forms of dieting, it comes down to simple arithmatics (in the words of Gwen Stefani): counting calories. Jenny's program is based on a 1,200 calories a day, which trust me, is not very much. But I learned 2 things on my Jenny-journey:

1. Your body, and more importantly, your stomach learns to adjust to less food. Not only that, but your body really doesn't need that much food to survive.


2. When you are hungry, your brain sends you a message to eat anything in sight and usually this is something that's quick, easy, and convenient. The truth is, your stomach does not care what you feed it as long as you feed it something. So it makes no difference to your stomach if you are feeding it a bag of chips or baby carrots. Because Jenny is not designed to starve you; on the contrary, the program wants you to eat every 2-3 hours, you learn to feed your stomach celery sticks rather than that donut. Your stomach does not care, but unfortunately, your mouth does.

At my last "weigh-in," I had lost 7 pounds in 4 weeks. Hopefully I can lose that last 3 in two weeks!

Portland, the City of (White) Roses

One thing we miss about the Bay Area is its cultural diversity. When we arrive at San Jose airport, we are always pleasantly surprised, I think, at the number of minorities we see. And no one looks at us twice because we look Asian!

Our flight back from San Jose to Portland was surprisingly mixed. Come to find out later, the flight was continuing on to Phoenix (what a horrible route!). And when we arrived in Portland, all the white people de-planed and all the 'colored folks' continued on!

My recent obsession with Vera Bradley

It all started with a need to find good gifts for my relatives in Taiwan (see 3/4/08 blog). I bought all my female relatives the Medium Bow Cosmetic bags (in various colors) and they loved it. Next I bought my mother-in-law an "On-the-Go" purse with adjustable straps in Yellow Bird for her Mother's Day/birthday present. The next week Tom's cousin, Alaina, was graduating from high school so we sent her the "Amy" purse in Daisy Daisy. Then I bought my Matron of Honor a Baby Bag in Raspberry Fizz as her wedding attendant gift (practical too!). For my good friend Divya, the co-host of our Jack-and-Jill shower who graciously opened her home, I also bought her a Baby Bag in Pink Elephant. And as a "just because" present for a good friend from law school, I bought her the a wristlet in the latest color - Seaside.

Finally for myself, I initially ordered the Miller Bag in Mesa Red, but it was too big so I returned it and bought myself the Villager in Mesa Red. And because it's a retiring color, all Mesa Red items were 25% off. It didn't take too much convincing from my Mom for me to get the 21" Rolling Luggage (pictured)! Ho! Of course, then I fell in love with the Note Cube and matching pen in Pinwheel Pink (a portion of which is donated to Breast Cancer Research), which I had to have! But oh I am far from done - I've got my eyes set on the beach towel and hat - both in Seaside. So am I obsessed with this stuff or what? Oh maybe just a little...