Seal:  “Hmmmm. We kinda look alike.”
Pup:   “Yeah. But your nose-to-eye-placement is cuter.”
Seal:  “True.”

Taken from one of my favorite websites – www.cuteoverload.com!  Bella! 

I so so so wanted Bella to be part of our wedding but it would’ve been too tough logistically.  While the gals were getting ready I got a special delivery from Andy!  He wrote me the sweetest card and sent me a mini Bella~!  Talk about happy tears…   

 Hi~!  I’m finally updating!    I’ll post more specifics later but for now…here’s how it all happened…

The Shower

The Bachelorette Party

The Engagement Photos
 

The Big Day! 

Rome

Florence

Pisa

Venice

St. Regis Bora Bora

Le Taha’a Private Island & Spa

Michigan

NYC

Home! 
 

Hey everybunny!!  It’s me~ Skippee!  Things have been so crazy over here…CRAZY!  I’m not even supposed to be online right now because we’re taking off for the hotel…BUT I had to say bye to my Xanga buddies.  BYE~!  I feel like I’ve been missing out on so much.  No worries…I’ll be back soon and then I can properly congratulate all the newlyweds, newly engaged, new parents, and just catch up on everything else. 

Tonight:      Rehearsal & Dinner

Tomorrow:  THE BIG DAY!

Monday:  Italy

A week or so later:  Bora Bora

A week or so later:  Michigan

A few days after that:  New York

Then:  LA

My one last request~ please think good thoughts for us tomorrow or say a little prayer so that our day will be perfect! 

Thanks so much for all your support through everything!! 

Love, soon-to-be Mrs. Skippee

Skippee, the next Apprentice?

A long time ago I remember hearing about the Apprentice auditions and it seemed tedious.  You have to submit like a 10 minute video, wait in lines with hundreds of people, etc.  I didn’t think it would ever be worth the trouble.

Then…I get this e-mail from the casting director of the Apprentice saying they’re looking for a Los Angeles based attorney. They’re filming in LA next season so they really want an attorney from the area.  At first I thought everyone at my firm got it but then some of my co-workers actually didn’t get it.

So…I sent in a few pics, my resume and bio…all the while thinking this was a long shot.  She actually wrote back to say the producers are interested in meeting me!  They’ve made it so easy!  I highly doubt I’ll get on though…I’m just a normal gal.  I’m not argumentative, I’m not crazy, I don’t have a good story.  Plus, would I even want to be on the show?  We’ll see…

Wonderful Winnie

Loving a dog is so amazing…yet when you see them sick and dying your heart breaks and you find yourself wondering if the pain is this awful…is it better not to fall in love in the first place?  Why do people have pets when they know their lives will end too soon and often in sad and painful ways?  That’s just the heartache talking…because you know that the love, laughter and priceless memories you’ve shared are worth the pain of the inevitable good-bye.

Gosh, if only you knew Winnie.  When we first met her she had all these fleas and we washed her in the sink (she’s the biggest clean freak now so she’d be embarrassed that I’m sharing this).  She’d sit at the table and watch me eat…at first she’d be patient but then once it seemed like I wasn’t going to leave her anything she’d get totally annoyed with me and even bark sometimes.  She wasn’t a dog person…we’d go to the dog park and she’d just chill by herself.  She was so smart that she’d know whenever they got close to my house and she’d get happy whenever they said my name.  She was such a ladylike dog except when it came to her crazy loud bark.  She wasn’t a big fan of men or motorcycles.  She had the softest ear and foot fur on any dog I’ve ever met.  This one time she stole a chicken off the dining table and ate the whole thing!  I could go on and on…

Winnie would be turning 9 in just a few days.  Although it just seems too soon for her to be gone…I knew…when I saw her taking her last breaths in her mommy’s arms…I knew that she’d finally be at peace.  She couldn’t have been more loved and adored.  We are so blessed to have had her as part of our lives.   I pray that one day it won’t hurt as much for us and we’ll just be happy remembering how wonderful she was.

http://www.thelexuscollection.com/ –> Life & Style –> Gifts –> Bella!

Hi~!  I don’t have much time to write…I have too much work to do!  BUT I wanted to share something with my buddies – esp. those ladies who live by themselves or those who have children.  You might already know about this but sex offenders have to register their information with the government each time they move. 

Go to http://www.familywatchdog.us/ and type in your address.  You may be surprised!  One of my buddies called me today to tell me 1 convicted rapist and 1 pedophile live within a few blocks of my place!  The site has the exact addresses and photos.  You can even sign up to get e-mail notifications if a sex offender ever moves within a 1 mile radius of your home.  This kind of thing will be especially important when I have kids!

Okie, that’s it for now!  I wish I had more time to catch up.  Whenever I get really busy with work I miss reading about all my Xanga buddies…hopefully I’ll get some more free time soon! 

Here are two of my favorite puppitos to brighten up this post! 

Weekend Update

Hi~!  How was everyone’s weekend?  I was mostly housebound because I was babysitting my buddy’s puppy.  Lily and Bella used to be the same size but then suddenly Bella became twice as big!  Even though Bella is so much bigger she is still as gentle as a lamb…she got a little roughed up…Lily is toy aggressive so she bit Bella right by her eye!  They got along most of the time though…I just had to take all the toys away. 

Since I was housebound I made French toast for the first time…thanks to Susan!  I tried looking up recipes online but they were too complicated for me…this one website had 100s of different kinds.  Luckily I remembered that a long time ago Susan sent me a recipe so I searched my e-mails and found it! 

Anyways, I haven’t done anything for the wedding in so long!  I need to get myself motivated again…

Here’s what I’ve done so far…

Venue – Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, Pacific Promenade

Andy and I spent so much time there falling in love with it.  Even Bella loved it!  I especially love the Pacific Promenade because it is a completely separate venue with super high ceilings, gorgeous ocean views and an awesome marble foyer.  I wish I had some good photos of the Promenade!

Coordinator – Stephanie Lairson

Maybe I’ve forgotten about wedding planning because I figure she’ll just handle everything!

Photographer – Jenny Stafford / Red Loft Studios

As you all know…it took us soo long to find a photographer.  We were soo impressed with Jenny!  Her photos were gorgeous and she just has this amazing ability to capture emotions and perfect little moments in her photographs.

So…I always had this idea about having a mini photo set-up at the wedding for the guests…sort of like a photo booth but fancier.  Most weddings are all about just taking tons of photos of the bride & groom but I really wanted to find a photographer who could offer us something for the guests too.  We’re having a separate photographer just for the guests!  The guest photographer will focus on taking candids of the guests and also set up a photo taking area.  We’re thinking of setting something up outside with the ocean as a backdrop as the sun sets and later setting up a couch in the foyer so guests can either have formal or goofy photos taken.  I’m so excited!  

Videographer – Video Artistry

We turned off most DVD demos we received within 5 minutes.  I finally understood why so many people can’t stand wedding videos!  We knew Video Artistry was the one for us because we were actually able to sit through the whole thing…it must’ve been over an hour long!

Our visit with Video Artistry was so random!  We walked into the office but there was another couple finishing up.  As I walked out I heard…Jenny?  It was my Xanga buddy (k_bridetobe)!  We had been e-mailing about wedding stuff but had never spoken and I had no idea what she looked like because she never posted pics on her site.  It was so funny that we ran into her there…we ended up having a joint meeting!  More randomness – they were showing us demos and we kept seeing people who looked familiar but not really.  When we looked closer and asked it turned out to be people like Lindsay Price (remember that ½ Asian girl on 90210?) and Debbie Matenopoulos (remember that girl who got kicked off The View?)…random, huh? 

DJ – Mark Thomas Peace

He is really really nice and charismatic!  Nice is important to us.  We didn’t want one of those cheesy or outrageously loud DJs who make people feel uncomfortable.  I’m thinking DJ meetings probably only take about an hour or so…we ended up staying like 3 hours!

Make-up/Hair – Joyce Luck

Joyce is soo sweet and I’ve only heard great things about her.  I had my trial but I wasn’t that happy with it.  Maybe it’ll be better next time! 

Dress – Monique Lhuillier

Before this whole wedding thing I wasn’t that interested in wedding dresses and really didn’t think I’d care for a brand name one.  There are certain things I knew for sure I wanted to have high end or brand name (venue, photographer, ring) but I really didn’t care about the dress as long it was a good quality one.  I don’t know what happened to me…I found my perfect dress at ML! 

Need to do…

- Guest list

- Pastor

- Ceremony music

- Florist

- Invitations

- Favors

- Registry

- I’m sure there are so many other things I need to do!

P.S.  I know this is really late but…Bella says HAPPY (belated) HOLIDAYS! 

My friend was surfing the UCLA Law website and saw my pic in the “Recent News” section.  How random~ since this is an old pic!    Anyways, congrats to all my buddies who passed the bar this time around~ so proud of you! 

UCLA Law Boasts Highest Bar Passage Rate in California

Congratulations to UCLA Law students!

The results have been analyzed for the July 2005 California Bar examination. UCLA’s bar passage rate for first-time takers is 89% which puts us in first place in the state of California – edging out Stanford (88%), Berkeley (87%) and USC (82%).