Wedding Weight Watchers

In preparation for our pending nuptials, I decided to gain as much weight as possible so Eileen could start getting used to the life she is signing up for. It was a difficult road but my strict regimen of excessive food consumption and laziness has paid off and now here I am, the most I've weighed in my life. The joy that my future wife (weird to say, I know) expresses as I scarf down meals is always fun.

"Really? Are you really going to eat that?" Yes. Yes I am.

"Why don't you have a salad? Yay, salad!" Yay!

"Ugh." Thanks, hon.

Sign me up for another 50 years of this, please!

I kid! Eileen is not really like that (for the most part). But she does encourage healthy eating habits. I can make excuses about why I don't eat healthier nor exercise but I know that it really just comes down to willpower. Unfortunately, my willpower is severely lacking and that brings us to this post.

In my younger days I used to be active. Crazy, I know. I was motivated and actually followed a schedule close enough that I was able to complete two triathlons, a couple 10K runs and a half marathon (separately of course). But I don't think the source of the motivation was my willpower. It drew from people donating (I did Team in Training) and knowing that I was actually signed up for a freaking triathlon. So consider this post the same thing: I'm not asking for donations (just ad clicks) but now you know I actually do intend to lose weight.

How much weight? Enough to get Eileen off my back (just kidding, hon!). But at least now she knows what to expect once the wedding is over and I can go back to being the same ol' me. Then, this time next year, I can proudly wear my Halloween costume.


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Pricey Paper

I believe in going paperless as much as possible so when I encountered the "Paper Products" item on our to-do list, I cringed. (Insert comment from Jeng about how much of a snob I am.) Invitations are tradition, but it shocks me just how complicated and expensive they are. In the wedding world, an invitation may contain upwards of 6 pieces: Invitation, Reception Card, Directions Card, RSVP Card and 2 envelopes (one for RSVP and one for the invitation itself). In addition to that, there's a Save-the-Date announcement, wedding ceremony program, reception name cards, reception menu cards, reception table number cards, thank you cards... blah blah blah. My eyes glaze over and all I see are $$$ going down the drain. So once again, I face a crossroads -- do I:

A) Go cheap and do an Evite?
Tempting but this event probably shouldn't be on the same level as the everyday birthday party. And there are some folks on our list who (gasp!) don't have email. Crazy but true.

B) Find a cheap do-it-yourself method?
There are some great templates:

And I could have some fun with it:

C) Bite the bullet and pay the pretty penny?
With prices starting at $8 each, nice invitations cost more than your daily Starbucks fix. And I truly believe my guests would much rather me buy them a coffee than send them a invitation they'll eventually throw away. Hmm...

I haven't made a decision yet but none of my options are very appealing so I'm going to hold off on this one as long as possible. In the meantime, look out for our Save the Date postcards in the next few weeks. That should tide you all over for now.
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Lay It All Out There

In my younger days I had ambitions of being a hot-shot, free-lance web designer. Then I chickened out in college, did the Asian thing, and studied to become a computer engineer. It seemed like the "safe" bet. If it came down to it, I'd probably take that bet again, but I do feel like the left side of my brain is now dormant.

If you hadn't noticed, our site has undergone a renovation of sorts. I tried working those creative muscles again but it's been tough; I feel out of practice. We started off with the logo and went from there. It's still a work in progress but after 13 different concepts, what you now see before you is the winner. So bear with us as we start making those links work and fix doodads and gizmos here and there. In the meantime, here are a couple of other design directions we considered. Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments.

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