Thursday

I thought it would be fun to post pictures on here of me with my bridesmaids. Here is the first, my cousin Courtney! She is currently finishing up her undergrad in Pennsylvania but I'm hoping that she will come to California for her graduate work. This picture is from our grandmothers' surprise birthday party last summer.

In other news, tonight I'm going to the Stanford-Washington game, marking the return of Tim Morris to Maples (he transferred from Stanford 2 years ago). Tomorrow I'm going to the Cardinal Young Alumni Happy Hour at Blue Chalk (starts at 6!), and Curtis will also be in town this weekend! We'll be at Old Pro on Sunday with the BluCrew (aka the Bay Area Bruin Club) at 1PM rooting for UCLA against Arizona.

I'm also hoping to do some phone banking for Obama, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit that in yet.

Hilarious - The Daily Show 2/26

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=156940&title=democratic-pot-shots

Funny, for so many reasons.

Endorsements - Greg Oden???

I found this website, http://theobamapost.blogspot.com/ that keeps really good track of Senator Obama's campaign, and while I was scrolling the list of previous posts, I found one that caught my eye: "Ohio State University Basketball great Greg Oden endorses Barack Obama". At first, I was like, who cares? As much as I was a fan of Oden during his one-and-done year at THE Ohio State University (the "the" amuses me to no end), I tend to draw a line with which endorsements really impress me and on first glance his endorsement fell on the wrong side of that line.

But then I went on his blog and read what he actually had to say about it, and it was endearing. Check it out here: http://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/Senator_Obama_is_getting_my_vote/167640

Here is my favorite part:

"I know people might question my support of education because I left school after my first year but I had an opportunity to become something not a lot of people can be - on a paid vacation. No, I'm just playing - a number one draft pick. Yes I do plan on going back to school and getting my degree. I'm actually going back this summer for sure. Everything I look at I look at the stand point from my little cousins or my family members outside my immediate family. Everything that I'm sure my mother looked into before she voted, when me and my brother were growing up, and before I got drafted. Senator Obama is a real person. Sometimes people forget that people in the public eye are real people also. I know I did with him at first. We are all citizens of this great country and I know I'm putting in my one vote. I know it's just one small vote, but it's big to me."

I thought it was nice.

Law School Update

I got into USC!!!! I'm very excited, and still a little shocked. It definitely opens up more options, and gives Curtis the opportunity to stay at his current job. But we're still waiting for Stanford & Cornell, along with word from Georgetown which could come as late as August 15 (Davis too, but not as important because I'd def go to USC over Davis). Plus, I haven't gotten any financial aid packages from anyone yet, so there's a lot left to decide.

Monday Updates - 2/25/08

First and most importantly - Stanford sports:

Stanford Basketball!!!
We beat kal yesterday, decisively :-). New national rankings are not out yet but I see no reason why we would not stay in the top ten. I was very happy to see Anthony Goods have a good night. I will say the fouls seemed to go in our favor, but lets be honest: Cal really never got it together in that game. It was also fun at halftime to watch a 5 on 5 game, football coaches vs. football players. I think the final score was 5 to 2, coaches.

My favorite play of the game can be viewed here. It's the crowd favorite, Taj Finger, dunking over 2 Cal players: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL1ocxf8cgk I'm really going to miss watching him play.

Stanford Football
I got an interesting email today: "Stanford Football on the move!"

Great things are happening in the Stanford football program! What a tremendous feeling it was for our team to beat USC in the Coliseum and to recapture the Axe in the 110th Big Game against Cal. As our players and coaches now begin preparing for the 2008 season, we will build on these successes and work to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves.

One of these goals is to put the Cardinal in a position to succeed not only at the conference level, but also at the national level. Many factors will contribute to our achieving this success, including establishing a greater home field advantage at Stanford Stadium. The first step in accomplishing this will be relocating the Stanford team bench from the east side (sunny side) to the west side (shady side) of the stadium, where the visiting team bench is currently located. This move will benefit our team and coaches by placing them in the shade during day games and is consistent with the home bench location of our opponents.

Moving our team to the shady side will necessitate moving the visiting team to the sunny side, in front of the section that has been designated historically for the Red Zone (student section). The Pac-10 Conference prohibits students from sitting behind the visiting team bench. To comply with this rule, the student seating section must be moved from its current location on the east sideline (sections 134–140) to the southwest corner (sections 105, 106, and 108) and the west sideline (sections 109–111).

As a result of this move, all of our season ticket holders in sections 106–111 will need to be relocated. Our loyal season ticket holders who must be relocated will be offered the first opportunity to select new seating locations once all renewals have been processed. More details about the relocation process for season ticket holders in the affected area will be provided when the renewal process begins in March. We recognize the inconvenience these changes have caused and we assure you that the athletic ticket office will work with them to find satisfactory seating.

Many thanks for your commitment to Cardinal football. We are excited about the relocation of the home team bench and the benefits it will provide our student-athletes, and we hope we can count on your continued support throughout the process.

I look forward to seeing you at Stanford Stadium for our season opener on August 28!

Sincerely,
Jim Harbaugh
The Bradford M. Freeman Director of FootballHead Football Coach

I think it's great that the team is moving to the shady side, I never understood the tradition of making OUR team be 10 degrees warmer than the visiting team while on the bench. And I think the students will appreciate the shady side seats.

On the other hand, the current shady side folks will be quite unhappy that they're moving the section, I'm sure people will come out and talk about the number of years they've been a season ticket holder and are therefore entitled to keep their seat. Plus student tailgaters will have to make a longer trek from the beer to their seats, so they might never make it there ;-). Unfortunately I might not be able to attend a game this year so I'll have to see how this unfolds from my TV :-(.

Weekend Recap:

On Saturday morning I went to Santa Clara for "Minority Law Day". Fortunately the weather wasn't as bad as expected this weekend as I was in San Jose both days. My morning at Santa Clara was fun, and it made me realize that Santa Clara law is not for me.

After that I went to Paper Source (http://www.papersource.com/) at Santana Row becuase they were having demonstrations of fun ways to make your own wedding invitations/save-the-dates, and favor boxes. It was really crowded but it did inspire me to add creative elements to all of the wedding stationary. Juls and I went back there on Sunday to look around some more, get ideas, but I think we decided that we're going to look elsewhere for more affordable paper or printing options, because the idea of printing out and then cutting 75 invites didn't seem very appealing.

On Saturday night I rented Michael Clayton & Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I have to say, Michael Clayton was pretty good. I liked George Clooney in that role (although I don't think it was much of a stretch) and Tilda Swinton was really good, definitely deserving of her Oscar for that role. Elizabeth wasn't nearly as good as the first movie. I think the writing was quite disappointing because they took what could be a compelling story and made it drag on, frequently interrupted by this love triangle that was predictable and unremarkable.

On Sunday Juls and I went Bridesmaid dress shopping (with this post I am revealing who one of my Bridesmaids is, my good friend from Stanford - Juls!) at David's Bridal. We had a lot of success and found a batch of dresses that we both liked and were very flattering.

So now I'm back at work, but I have a lot to look forward to: the last 2 home games (including the return of Tim Morris to Maples), a visit from Curtis, Cardinal Young Alum Happy Hour at Blue Chalk, and better weather.

Happy Monday!

Save the Date - 8/8/08!

No this isn't wedding-related. We're getting married in 2009 ;-)

Mark your calendars now: I am throwing a party in Mission Viejo on 8/8/08 - my birthday! So if you are going to be in the Southern California area, I expect you to be there. We will be celebrating 8/8/08, my 23rd birthday, and my departure for law school.

Tuesday Updates - 2/19/08

(I realize that I promised Monday updates, but given the holiday weekend situation Tuesday was more appropriate)

General: I took Friday off and had a 4 day vacation in Mission Viejo. It was very relaxing - I got a ton of sleep, watched 4 college basketball games (stanford-arizona =), syracuse-gtown :-) , usc-ucla :-), and syracuse-louisville :-( ), tried on a bunch of wedding dresses, and hung out with the family. I will probably be back in town for Easter weekend.

Stanford Basketball: My team one 1 of 2 on the road in Arizona this weekend, but they are still ranked #9. Lunardi has us as a 2 seed right now in the East. As long as we stay a top-4 seed, we will play our first rounds in Anaheim at the Honda Center! From what I've heard I can get tickets through Stanford as a season ticket holder so I'm hoping that's true, since the first round is scheduled for Easter weekend! This week we play kal on Sunday at home, so we better win. Then we have the home Washington/Wazzu games, and then our last Pac-10 games before the 10 tournament are in LA.

Law School: same as before - we're booking our D.C. trip this week! I'm also attending Santa Clara's Minority Day on Saturday.

Wedding: I think this has already been covered in my last 2 posts, but expect more info. later this week :-)

Television: Now that the writers are done striking I'm hoping to get my scripted shows back in a few months. But, Big Brother 9 started last week so that will occupy my time as it is on 3 days a week. This crop of contestants is the craziest ever (and stupidest, some of these people are as dumb as rocks) so it should be interesting. I will say, as much as I want to be on this show I'm glad I'm not on it this season because it is a freak show. I also watched the final of American Gladiators (totally predictable) and the premiere of My Dad is Better Than Your Dad (surprisingly amusing).

I think that's all - have a good week!

We're Done!

We ordered the dress! My mom and I went back to the same store, Jinny's Bridal Center (who also won a knot.com award this year) and tried on 1 of the final 2 dresses. I put it on with the veil and jewelry and knew it was the one :-). It will probably come in by the time I move home for the summer. We also got the veil and jewelry there, and then bought the shoes from Nordstrom, since I already knew which ones I wanted to wear. So I'm very happy that I am done with that and I LOVE my dress:-)

I also changed my flight - I didn't feel like finding my car at 11PM tonight in long-term parking, so I'm coming in at 9 AM tomorrow morning.

Happy Presidents' Day!

The Search for the Dress!

Maggie Sotero knows how to make a dress (this one is called the Dallas Marie) Check out her collection at http://www.maggiesottero.com/

Yesterday (Friday), my mom and I took the day off and went weddding dress shopping. We started at David's Bridal and I must have tried on 12 gowns there (my mom was marveling at how fast I was!).

Then we had lunch, and went to Jinny's Bridal in Huntington Beach, and we have such a fun experience. Our consultant was southern, energetic, and obsessed with tight corsets (I'm actually wondering if a knot in my back was from a corseted dress I had on yesterday).

Obviously, I can't go into much detail about the dresses since my the fiancee reads my blog, but we did take pictures of every dress I tried on at David's Bridal (it wasn't allowed at Jinny's), so you want to see them shoot me a message. We're actually going back to Jinny's on Monday morning to try a few dressses on again and if you're curious about that, I'll give you the info. so you can see the dresses online ;-).

Today I'm watching the Stanford-Arizona game (12:30, ABC), then going to a bridal boutique in San Clemente, and probably hitting the gym but otherwise having a slow day (yay!). Enjoy your long weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

In Paris, July 2003

So I'm very excited because for the first time in 4 years, I get to see my Valentine ON Valentine's Day! So I'm leaving work at 5 PM to get on a plane, and meeting Curtis at 8:15 in Orange County. To celebrate our first Valentine's Day as an engaged couple, here are some pictures from the early years of our relationship:

High School Graduation 2003 (I know, it's been that long)

At LAX, getting ready to fly to Europe (June 2003)

Screw Your Roommate 2004

Disneyland Tram, 2004

Cinco de Mayo Party, 2006

I'm very lucky :-)

Congrats Barack!

For another great win in Virginia, D.C., and Maryland!

Unfortunately, there's a long way to go and its likely that neither candidate will have enough pledged delegates before the convention. But, for starting out as the underdog, I'd say we're in pretty good shape :-)

My favorite quotes from his speech tonight:

"We need a new direction in this country. Everywhere I go, I meet Americans who can’t wait another day for change. They’re not just showing up to hear a speech – they need to know that politics can make a difference in their lives, that it’s not too late to reclaim the American Dream.

It’s a dream shared in big cities and small towns; across races, regions and religions – that if you work hard, you can support a family; that if you get sick, there will be health care you can afford; that you can retire with the dignity and security and respect that you have earned; that your kids can get a good education, and young people can go to college even if they’re not rich. That is our common hope. That is the American Dream...

I should not be here today. I was not born into money or status. I was born to a teenage mom in Hawaii, and my dad left us when I was two. But my family gave me love, they gave me education, and most of all they gave me hope – hope that in America, no dream is beyond our grasp if we reach for it, and fight for it, and work for it.

Because hope is not blind optimism. I know how hard it will be to make these changes. I know this because I fought on the streets of Chicago as a community organizer to bring jobs to the jobless in the shadow of a shuttered steel plant. I’ve fought in the courts as a civil rights lawyer to make sure people weren’t denied their rights because of what they looked like or where they came from. I’ve fought in the legislature to take power away from lobbyists. I’ve won some of those fights, but I’ve lost some of them too. I’ve seen good legislation die because good intentions weren’t backed by a mandate for change.

The politics of hope does not mean hoping things come easy. Because nothing worthwhile in this country has ever happened unless somebody, somewhere stood up when it was hard; stood up when they were told – no you can’t, and said yes we can.

Monday Monday - 2/11/08

Monday Updates

Weekend:
Saturday I had brunch w/ Adelyn at Consuelos in Santa Row which was as always, delicious. We roamed around Santana Row and then I headed home, read all of my law school mail, had a Starubucks Cafe Vanilla Frapp to celebrate Georgetown, and then went to the Stanford-Oregon State Basketball game (more on that below). Sunday I hung out w/ Juls! We went to a bridal show and then walked around and had lunch in downtown Pleasanton, which is really charming. The weather this weekend was really amazing, I drove around with the top down in my car quite a bit.

Stanford BBall:
The Card had another great weekend, winning our 7th straight game. CBS has us ranked 7, we'll see what AP/ESPN do soon. the Pac-10 all around had an interesting weekend. We beat Oregon badly, and they turned around and beat Kal by 23 points. We had some trouble with Oregon State in the first half, but then our offense woke up and we beat them easily. The way they threw our guards off though doesn't bode well for the NCAA tournament, but I continue to keep my fingers crossed. Washington beat UCLA yesterday, which is good for Stanford but obviously bad for the Bruins and probably bad for the conference, since UW will be lucky to get into the NIT this year. And ASU beat Arizona, which I was very happy to see becuase Arizona is overrated I think, they get too many kudos for their strength of schedule. So now we play the Arizona schools this week in Arizona, and I'm very hopeful that we will pull out a win in both games.

Law School Watch:
As I said in my last post, I got rejected from UW and wait-listed by G-Town. So, I am definitely planning a trip to DC to see GW, American, and G-Town since it's very possible that I will end up there. I am still waiting on Davis, UCLA, USC, Stanford, and now Cornell, so it is by no means over, but I have made some headway. I freaked myself out on Saturday night by going on a law school message board and hearing all these terrible things about wait lists. But I'm trying to take everything with a grain of salt. As much as I want to go to Georgetown I am prepared to never hear from them ever again. I believe that you go where you are supposed to go, so I'm not too worried. But I am working on a letter to send to Georgetown indicating that I really want to go there, so at least I will be able to say I tried.

Wedding:
I am very excited because this Friday my mom and I are officially kicking off the search for the DRESS. This was something that I wasn't really excited about when we first got engaged, but I'm surprising myself by how much I really care about this aspect. I've found a handful of dresses that I'm in love with and can't wait to try on. Juls and I went to a bridal show yesterday and I got to see a lot of photographers. It was good to get an idea of what I like and dislike, even though I won't be using a photographer from the area, except for maybe the engagment pictures. There was also a fashion show put on by one of the bridal boutiques. I saw a lot of bridesmaid dress styles that I like. All in all the show was fun, it's fun to play the Bride-to-Be. In other news, Curtis is putting together a wedding website, http://www.curtisandchristine.com/ so I will keep this blog posted as far as its progress.

Other:
I am planning to dye my hair blonde this summer - just for fun, as soon as our engagement pictures are taken. The more I think about the more excited I get, I guess I'm just ready to do something a little wild before I head back to school. The good thing is my mom and Curtis actually think it's a fun idea, which gave me a little more confidence. But I'll make sure to post pictures of that on facebook, etc. when that happens :-).

Good news!!!

Today I got word that I am on the Priority Wait List for Georgetown University Law Center!!! I am so excited and proud, because G-Town is a bit of a dream school for me. So I'm anxiously awaiting a possible acceptance letter from them.

I also heard from Loyola again, they offered me a $51,000 scholarship, and I also got rejected from University of Washington. That was actually a blessing in disguise, because I didn't want to be tempted into staying on the West Coast just because it would be more convenient.

So, I'm happy - it's been a good day.

Thursday

Now that Super Tuesday has come and gone, I'll take a break from the Obama madness, except to say that I read a good article today about Obama and some of the reasons people aren't voting for him. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/03/AR2008020302526.html?referrer=emailarticle

Tonight the Cardinal is back at home to play Oregon. This is a very exciting and important game becuase Oregon gave us 1 of our 3 losses this season when we played them on Mac Court. So to by honest I'm distracted at work today because of it!

In other news, I heard from 3 more schools this week: American, Loyola, and Arizona. I got in to all 3 so I've officially heard from all of my safety schools. I am planning a trip to DC at the beginning of April to see GW and American (and hopefully G-Town!) and I'm really looking forward to the trip. I also applied to Cornell today because they sent me a letter saying that I could apply for free. I figured it's at least worth a shot, even though I'm not too excited about moving to Ithaca, New York (although 1 benefit is that it's only an hour away from the 'cuse!). I'm also waiting for 6 more schools to respond (UCLA, USC, Washington, Davis, Stanford & G-Town) so this process is not over.

This weekend, I have another Stanford home game (Oregon State), and then I'm going to hit a bridal show in Pleasanton on Sunday! This whole wedding thing is pretty fun, especially since I'm not in a rush to get anything planned yet :-). My mom and I are going to go dress shopping next Friday, and Curtis is going to build a website that will likely be called curtisandchristine.com (christineandcurtis was taken!) and we are going to start designing that next weekend, so things are slowly moving along.

Yes We Can - the words

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized;
women who reached for the ballots;
a President who chose the moon as our new frontier;
and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ...........
We've been asked to pause for a reality check.
We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA;

we will remember that there is something happening in America;
that we are not as divided as our politics suggests;
that we are one people;
we are one nation;
and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story
with three words that will ring from coast to coast;
from sea to shining sea -- Yes. We. Can.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY