Tuesday Updates - 9/30/08

I can't believe it's October tomorrow! Apologies for not having this up yesterday, I started writing it on Sunday and then I forgot about it!

Weekend:
I made a really quick trip up to Santa Clara/Campbell Saturday-Sunday. I went to a friend's birthday party on Saturday night which was really fun and then spent the night with another friend. When I woke up the next morning we went to Stacks, which was very exciting for me because its my favorite breakfast place and they have one in Campbell in addition to Menlo Park. The trip took a little over 5 hours each way which was a little longer than I expected, but wasn't too bad. Here are a few pictures from the road!
School:
After turning in my 10 page case memo, life got a little easier, but it's time to start reviewing what I've done so far, make sure i don't have any questions, and pull everything i have so far together. So I think I might have to cut down on the tv time to start reading supplemental materials, etc. It's sad, but I have to remind myself that this lifestyle is temporary :-).

That's all for now!

PS - I added pictures here if you want to see who I'm hanging out w/ at school :-)

USC Gym and other related wedding issues

So I finally got a decent workout today, my first since I started law school. I wanted to give myself a few weeks to get into the swing of things before I added workouts to the schedule. Plus, for awhile I was wondering if I'd even need to work out since I was carrying a 10-15 lb bag everywhere and all the time. It's remarkable that I'm maintaining my weight while eating whatever I want.

However, there is a reality that it would be best if I drop a pant size so that I get the optimal fit from my wedding dress. I figure that I need about 10 lbs or so to get there, which is enough to be a challenge yet not enough that I feel a sense of urgency. The best way I lose weight is a combination of diet and exercise. There are two goals with 2 different deadlines really: I have my first dress fitting in December so I need to drop the 10 or so pounds by then. I would also like to make sure my arms are toned for the wedding itself, but I probably won't really focus on that until Spring Break, and my Wii fit will be helpful, I'm sure. As much as I don't post about diet/exercise on the blog, I thought I'd make an exception because this is a common issue for brides.

So I put on my workout clothes, went to Civil Procedure, and then made the walk from the law building to the gym, which is unfortunately a 10-15 minute walk away. I really want to get my bike on campus so I can cut that trip in half. Maybe I'd go more if I had that ability. I didn't see much of the gym, and already it's obviously better than Stanford's. There's a nice big locker room where I could leave my purse, and the cardio machines there have their own TV's, so I watched the end of Oprah. I'll admit, I'm pretty sore, which is an indication that I'm pretty out of shape, but I'm patting myself on the back for making the trip and rewarded myself with a Jamba Juice. I'm really tempted to find the money to get a personal trainer for the next few months, just because that would make me go and get toned. If anyone is interested in sponsoring me, let me know =)  (just kidding!) 

8 months!

As you may have noticed from my wedding countdown, in 8 months I will be married! There are 3 major logistical implications of this –

1. Curtis (and his stuff) will be moving into the apartment. As much as I’ve been making an effort to leave space in the closet and the dresser for his stuff, it’s hard because I’m used to having a lot of storage to myself, and lets face it, I’ve been accumulating a lot of stuff over the past few years. But, we have this lovely walk in closet that still needs to be organized and we have 8 months to get ready for the logistics of co-habitation.

2. 8 months is not a lot of time for wedding planning. There are still some major things to get done. In particular I still have to book the music for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. There’s a long list of things that need to happen over Christmas break, like picking the menu, getting my dress fitted, etc.

3. I will be done with my first year of law school in 8 months (minus 1 week). That does not seem far away, given that the last 4 weeks went by in a blur. As much fun as I’m having in my first year classes (really, I think the classes are interesting), I will be happy when I’m done and know how I did and where I stand relative to my classmates.

It’s very exiting to acknowledge this milestone; I think once we’re under 6 months I’ll start panicking =).

Monday Updates - 9/22/08

Quick update on law school: I had a 10 page closed research office memorandum due this morning and I was able to turn it in to the library at 6 PM yesterday! To celebrate 2 of my friends and I went driving around in my car with the top down and ended up at the Beverly center for dinner at PF Chang's. I even took a few pictures!
So, even though my weekend was busy with law school activities and paper writing, I did get a few hours to relax. I don't have class until 1:20 on Mondays, so I had the morning to do my reading for today.

I had a pretty good day at school today, everything is starting to make sense ! I'm sure I'll have more to talk about, but right now I'm watching Dancing w/ the Stars!

Wedding Planning: Bridesmaid Dresses

So I haven't blogged about this much yet (partly because this isn't a topic that I like to talk about to be honest, but since I have a paper to finish today I'm procrastinating), but one of the hardest decisions I'm making about this wedding is the bridesmaid dresses. I don't think this is a common hard decision brides face (but correct me in the comments if it is) but for some reason I'm really indecisive. 

I have 5 bridesmaids who are wonderful and I'm sure will be supportive of whatever decision I make. When we first started working on this they all went and tried on dresses and told me what they liked/didn't like, and we narrowed on a canary-colored dress that everyone would be happy with. And as cute as I think this dress is, for some reason it's not like, speaking to me. It's weird I know, but I make most of my decisions on instinct and my gut has decided to abstain this time. I know, I know, it's really rather trivial and everyone is going to look good no matter what, so why the indecision? Well, I have conflicting goals with the bridesmaid dresses: 

1. The look of the wedding party: I am fascinated by the weddings where the Bridesmaids are in black. It just really adds some uniformity when both sides of the bride and groom are in black and I think the flowers could really pop (and I have this awesome florist that I'm very excited about). Plus there are practical considerations: Everyone can use a black dress and black generally looks good on everyone. I'd probably let everyone wear their own black dress instead of choosing one (although I might exert some control over the material). But I'm just really interested in going in that direction. 

2. The general theme of bright spring happy colors: Lets face it, if this wedding was held on a January evening, there would be much less hesitation to go with black bridesmaid dresses. While black is formal, it is also connected to mourning. And I'm not sure how black would be received by our guests. Yellow on the other hand is a happy color that would really promote the youthful theme of the day. Plus we have a dress picked out that's really cute and we will get a white sweater to go over it. And to a certain extent I respect the tradition of bridesmaids and the unusual circumstance of 5 girls wearing the same weird-colored dress all day. 

So obviously it sounds like I'm leaning in the yellow dress direction but I still want some time to think about it. There are other yellow options, and in fact there are some new really cute online-only satin dresses on davidsbridal.com. I gave myself until November 30 (if I remember correctly) to decide. 

Any former brides out there? Please comment with any wisdom! 

Quick Check-In

This week was odd because we didn't have a class 2 our of the 4 days its scheduled, plus we didn't have any new reading for Contracts, so the first few days were really easy and then the work just piled on. We had a 1L party organized by the university on Wednesday (with really good food btw) so essentially I wasn't prepared for class on Thursday. Luckily I didn't get cold-called so no harm done. But it's never fun to be behind in the reading. 

Of course, then today I spent a lot of time preparing for class and it went really well! I had a good grasp of the concepts, participated in both of my classes, and left school feeling really good. Of course, I have a 10 paper paper to write that's due on Sunday at 6, but I was happy with how the week ended. 

Tonight I'm going to a BBQ thrown by La Raza and BLSA, and tomorrow I have an academic retreat, also thrown by BLSA, so no free time essentially until Sunday night. But it's a good mix of work and extra-curricular activities. And I'm very excited because next week I'm sneaking up to San Jose/Campbell for a birthday party! So just knowing that something fun is horizon is keeping me sane :-) 

Have a good weekend! 

Monday Updates - 9/15/08

Alright here we go, it's a short one today: 

Weekend: 

This weekend turned out to be pretty low key. On Friday afternoon I made the trip to the OC to have dinner w/ Curtis and his parents for his mom's birthday. We had a really fun time at Cheesecake and I was very excited to have the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake again (I tried it for the first time on National Cheesecake Day). Then I went home and hung out w/ my family that night. I got in a good ranting session about politics with my dad, talked about the social dynamics of law school w/ my mom, and threw the ball around with Jon. On Saturday morning I did my laundry and then headed back to LA around 1PM. We watched some of the UCLA game, until we could watch no longer, and then went out to dinner that night. 

On Sunday morning we saw Burn After Reading. I still haven't decided whether I liked it or not. It was a very odd movie, but I had to admit, it did have quite a few funny parts. And the trailer is a lot more amusing now that I know what all of the scenes are about. Then Sunday night I had dinner w/ people in my section at Father's Office in Culver City.  It was nice to see everyone after a weekend where I had essentially no connection with law school (I didn't even do any reading). 

Law School:

The reading is still under control since I'm still ahead in Contracts. The LLE reading was remarkably short and Torts is canceled tomorrow and Wednesday (civ pro is only Thurs/Fri). So it's nice to get a bit of a break before we have to kick it into gear and start work on the outlines. As of now I had a free lunch today, tomorrow and Wednesday(there's like, 4 different things scheduled for Wednesday lunch, and one of them includes Chipotle!) . Plus there's a party thrown by the Dean on Wednesday night and a BBQ with BLSA on Friday. And Saturday I'm attending an academic retreat with the regional BLSA (Black Law Students Association) and possibly a mansion party later that day. So as of now, I'm healthy and happy with how law school is going. I hope that holds up at least through October. 

That's all for now, nothing new otherwise. Have a good week!