Alison Heather Siegel

Have you ever been out to eat with Alison? Then you know she’s a picky eater. She’s never ordered directly from a menu and more often than not, her meal comes out wrong due to her outrageous alterations: “I’d like a BBQ chicken salad. No beans or avocado. Please add sunflower seeds. Is the chicken white meat? I only eat white meat. I like BBQ sauce, but can you bring it on the side? And no, I don’t want it mixed with ranch dressing.” You can’t blame the restaurant – she’s picky, and pleasing her is a challenge, but that’s what life is about: finding perfection. If that means tearing through food during the quest for happiness, so be it.

As the ultimate “girly-girl,” Alison enjoyed playing dress up and attending fancy events. She enjoyed being the life of the party and mingling with friends and family at the tender age of three. So when Alison got to twirl around in her beautiful Aunt Laura’s equally beautiful wedding veil, Alison knew that the rest of her life would be about finding the wedding gown and veil that would be just right! After all, since Alison followed in her aunt’s footsteps, learning to play piano and discovering how to sing, the next obvious step would be dreaming about her wedding day for the next 20 years!

Skip ahead to Chanukah 1987. Alison was 4-and-a-half years old when she received a Wedding Day Barbie, complete with garden backdrop and white latticed archway. As picky as Alison is, Wedding Day Barbie immediately became her favorite, and Princess Barbie and Ballet Barbie took a backseat in the red Barbie Ferrari that she zoomed around the house on Long Shadow Court. As a budding preschool graduate, Alison began to dream about tying the knot with her real, live, future, human “Ken.” The journey had begun, and a lifetime of finding the right man with just the perfect amount of humor, brains, good looks, Jewish-ness and appetite would ensue.

While most kids went home from elementary school to face an evening of strict homework regimens or a plate full of lamb chops and spinach, during the spring, summer and fall months, Alison was whisked away to Dodger Stadium where she would enjoy the night full of plays by Brett Butler and trays piled with peanuts and Dodger Dogs. Alison’s dad introduced her to Dodger baseball at a young age and she grew up in Aisle 33, Row C. She understood the game pretty well and when she wasn’t chowing down on Carnation Malts and other Dodger treats, she was developing her first crushes on baseball players.  Butler, Eric Karros and Mike Piazza caught her eye, and her picky personality decided that she prefers clean cut, tall, lean men. Vin Scully’s voice was a normal sound in her house. No different than birds chirping outside or trees rustling in the breeze, Scully’s storytelling and vocal talents were a staple in her home. His poetic play-by-plays and fascinating tidbits about Dodger baseball inspired Alison to communicate with similar wit. It would not be an understatement to say that in many ways, Dodger baseball — its culture and heritage — was a guide on Alison’s pathway to becoming who she is. Most importantly, over the years of Alison’s appreciation for baseball and devotion to the Dodgers, she realized how being a fan would most benefit her: Men. Every boy Alison ever had a crush on was an honored "guest" in her dad’s field level seats. With each Dodger date, Alison had an advantage over other girls in her class who were competing for the cutest boy and this pattern continued throughout high school and even into the courting of her now-fiancé. Dodger Stadium has seen paint jobs, seat reconfigurations, new owners and new advertisers over the years but one fact remains: Alison is anything but fickle about her boys in blue. Win or lose, Alison is a Dodger fan to the core and it’s an absolute must that her man be one too.

Westlake High School offered Alison so many outlets for getting involved. She chose to involve herself in Class of 2001 committees in addition to her drama and choir activities. As a member of choir, she sang and danced in competing groups and got to wear sparkly dresses and dance with boys. She became such good friends with the choir guys, that there wasn’t any room for romance and Alison and the gang enjoyed long bus rides to competitions, gossiping backstage and lunchtime rehearsals instead of dating, dating, dating. While Alison was president of International Thespian Society and took all of the drama classes, the theater department didn’t offer any steady boyfriend options either, so she spent her high school years solidifying her friendships with her best girlfriends, the Weenies. When Alison wasn’t on stage performing in musicals or competing at choir shows, she enjoyed grilling hot dogs, doing crafts and gossiping with the girls! Alison’s high school years were some of her favorites, and it was during this big chunk of time that she grew up and decided how she’d want the rest of her life to pan out — just like ordering a BBQ chicken salad, Alison made remained picky about most things that concern high school girls including her homecoming dates, prom dress and college selection.

When Alison left the nest to go to Arizona for college, she made sure to pick the best dorm, the best sorority, the best classes and the best extra curricular activities. She enjoyed her college experience, gaining sisters through AEΦ, achieving goals and good grades and making some of the best memories as Wilma the Wildcat, the NCAA college mascot! But once she left the protective little bubble that college provided, she knew she’d have the biggest challenge ahead: not finding a job, not living on her own, but finding a MAN!

The summer after graduating from University of Arizona, Alison came back home to Westlake Village where she looked for a job and spent time with her high school friends. On a whim, she signed up for JDate solely for the purposes of meeting new people and eating a free dinner or two. She decided that for once in her life, she would not be picky. She decided to become <gasp!> a serial dater. After a few dates that were “experiences,” and meeting a few guys who were “um, nice,” Alison received an IM from MrGoodbar, aka Bryan, a handsome and tall guy (she likes men who are tall, which is part of her pickiness) who seemed to have similar interests. After hours and hours of chatting online and on the phone, Alison realized that miraculously, Bryan fit all of her choice qualities! He made her laugh, he could keep up with her mad Scrabble skills, his charmingly handsome looks left her drooling, he went to the same Hebrew School she studied at, and he was a fellow foodie! He even puts up with the way she orders at restaurants! All of the qualifications fit and being picky paid off. Move over Skipper – Alison found her Ken and they can’t wait to build their Barbie dream house together.