Lotto, I'll miss you.

Today I found out my parents had to put our dog "Lotto" to sleep. She was 15. Lotto was the last puppy to join our family and the last one to leave us. When we got her, she was a tiny little fur ball, kind of looked like a little fried chicken actually. So adorable! I've always wanted a Chow Chow, so she came home with us and joined the 3 little Shih-Tzus we already had. She was the big sister, but the little ones liked to pick on her. She was so even tempered she’d just let them play.

Lotto was quick to learn how to sit. And when you fed her, she'd be so super gentle when taking the food from your fingers, her chin would shake a little so she wouldn't bite you. During the Northridge earthquake, she was missing for 3 days. Turns out she was hiding in our garage too scared to come out. We were all so happy when she finally came out. In the last few years she’s been a little lonely because her playmates all moved on from old age. I know they are all together now and keeping each other company. Lotto was a wonderful dog and I’ll really miss her.

Curious Ann

I've been wondering about something for a few days now but haven't had a chance to look it up. Who named China "China"? Because in chinese, there are no words that sound like "China". It sounds more like "Da Lu" or "Jion Guo"...It's not like when the French calls France "France" with the French accent. Or Italy and Rome which are much much closer to Italia and Roma...AND in chinese we say "EE-DA-LEE" and "Luo-Ma". I just thought it would be more universal to have the name of a country sound the same no matter where you go. So where did China get it's name?

Anyway, another weird thought. Can you drive past a road kill without looking at it? I just find it hard not to look because a part of me just wants to identify what animal it is. A skunk? a squirrel? (Don't worry, I don't dwell on that thought for very long, I'm a safe driver.)

Well, this is a glimpse of what goes on in my head while driving home. If you have an answer to either one of those questions I'd love to hear them.

Smile!

Sometimes I just need a little pick me up throughout the day. I’ve recently purchased 2 little pins from the Disney store. One of Winnie the Pooh, and the other of course, his best friend Piglet. These adorable pins are designed with an over-sized head and bodies that are attached to a spring, and wiggles when you tap them. Work has been stressful lately, so I decided to hot glue my little friends to my computer monitor. Anytime I feel low, I just give them a little tap and they instantly bring a smile to my face. Yah, I know...doesn't take much to make me happy. It's so true that it's the little things in life that can change our whole outlook on things. Hope the still images will bring you a smile too. (By the way, Pooh is the more wiggly one.)

New Patio Set!

Finally...we have a new patio set! I found a great deal online before the holidays (even free shipping!) It looks just like the set I saw in the Crate&Barrel catalog...but I waited too long for it to go on sale and they were sold out. Good thing it did because this set was on sale for half the price! and it was very easy to put together. Looking forward to having some outdoor entertaining real soon. Watch out Martha Stewart!

Viewer's Choice

Earlier today my friend Corri, a soon-to-be big time director/producer, requested to see photos of our home office...aka "the old 2-car garage". The project that took Chris (my hubby) and I over a year to complete. We designed every little detail to make the space fit our needs. I've really enjoyed working out of that space and sometimes if I'm motivated, I do yoga there in the morning. We haven't had anyone over to see it yet because I'm not done with furnishing it...but I hate to disappoint my friends, so here's a sneak peak.

There are also pictures of the backyard with our orange tree covered in little lights. I put them up before the holidays and loved them so much I decided to keep them up. I love those lights! It looks so romantic! It's on a timer so it turns off around midnight...and I get just a little sad.

I hope to have a office warming sometime this spring. For now, hope you enjoy the pictures.

Don't You Wanta?

Sometimes you just really want an orange soda...

NEW and IMPROVED!

After 3 weeks of hardwork, the new RubyLove site is up and running. We've switch the web hosting to another company so now I can personally make changes whenever I want to. We also are using paypal now and it's making the check out process even easier. The new site is full of fun stuff. From the preview of our new collection to fun things that inspire us. Soon we'll even have hair and beauty tips from some experts!

This is all part of the launch of our 2007 Summer collection and our first time at a trade show this weekend. It’s a very exciting time for RubyLove and we can’t wait to find out how people respond to our new look. As a true RubyLove girl, I feeling more passionate about our business than ever, and feeling great about our future.

Enjoy!

Home Sweet Home

It’s been over a year since we started the construction on our home. We started out with turning our garage into a home office, to re-doing our sprinkler system, new drive way, new front gate, new front door...and the list seems to grow every day. And finally we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

We just finished building the wall next to our house to separate us from our neighbor. The story of our two houses is that when it was built in 1926, the owner built our house for his parents. The 2 properties shared a court yard. When the houses were sold to separate owners, none of the previous owners did anything to separate the properties. This is something we’ve been wanting to fix since we bought the house in 2003. And after 4 years of working it out with our neighbor, and finishing up other projects around the house, we now have our privacy and a pathway to the backyard!

There are only a few minor touch ups and we'll be done. And I’m ready to take off my contractor’s hat and start enjoying all of our hard work.