league-ing and mooning

it'd been a while since i'd been to a junior league GTG. like, i was starting to twitch from withdrawal. and so i was excited when last thursday finally rolled around and i could attend a meeting to discuss an upcoming project i'll be involved in - my first as a JLP-er. whee!

the meeting, surprisingly, went quickly and actually ended earlier than planned. this was fabulous, since part B of the evening was a gathering that put the "fun" in "fundraising" - a pre-holiday shopping event at jacob maarse. attendees would get 10% off of all purchases, and a portion of the proceeds would be donated to the JLP, so it was a win-win situation. a group of us walked the block-ish distance to the shop together.

we were among the first to arrive, and the check-in process went quickly. i signed in and accepted my raffle ticket. still don't know what the raffle was or when it was taking place, but hey, i'm always down for a chance to win free shit.

i smirked to myself as i imagined trying to figure out where to put one (or more) of these things in the shoebox we live in. ain't happening, for a number of reasons.

so much of the items for sale were large and in charge, and ornate as all hell. not really my style, but hey, to each her own.

the trees that dotted the store were just as elaborate, and i started wondering where we would find a spot to put our tree this year. doesn't matter how small our place is, we can't have christmas without a tree.

jacob maarse is the premier florist in the pasadena area. i wondered who was the recipient of this extravagant arrangement.

more happy, friendly holiday door greeters.

okay, this thing was creepy as fuck. can you imagine waking up in the middle of the night, stumbling around towards the toilet to pee, and having it staring at you through the darkness? hell no. i would freak the hell out, and the teen would too. although the bean would just want to give it a hug, i bet. either way, we're not going to find out. he can just stay in the store and keep the burglars away.

dude, even the paper goods weren't my style. like, just not. i was beginning to think i wasn't going to take advantage of that discount at all.

i was wandering through the store with a fellow provisional member, and we giggled over these fancy-schmancy candle snuffers. because, of course, simply blowing out the flame isn't enough - it's way more elegant to do it with a posh instrument such as this.

scented tassels. you need one.

more super duper ornate decor. it took a lot of willpower to walk away from the $1,895 santa carousel, but i sucked it up and moved on. i mean, i did have a 10% discount...

and then we hit the jackpot. because through this archway:

we found the good stuff. of course, i'm talking about the food.

it was a fantastic spread that was designed to stuff our bellies full of yummy mexican food - carne asada, seasoned chicken, heaps of tortillas, rice and beans, crunchy taquitos. i took a plateful quite happily and staked out a spot at one of the festively decorated tables.

i spent some time chatting with the others at my table, also provisional members. it was nice to meet and get to know new people, and we had a great time. one of them works for a website that focuses on selling eco-friendly products, another owns a really cute little clothing boutique in old town pasadena, and a third works with model josie maran on her organic makeup line. really cool women! yummy food and great company - this is exactly what i signed up for. maybe not in that order, though. i think. huh.

when we'd polished off every bite on our plates, the sweet tooth kicked in. and the array of mexican-themed desserts didn't disappoint.

when one of the girls dug into the flan cup and made a face, i put mine back. i like flan, but i wasn't feeling it that night anyway. yes, i am easily influenced like that.

besides, there was no shortage of sweet treats to keep me happy.

i bypassed the gallo wine spread and opted for a bottle of water instead. boring, i know, but i figured the rest of the crowd would be happy to take up my slack.

i wanted to pick up this tray of mexican wedding cookies and dump it into my purse. but i'm a diginified, refined junior league member. instead, i stuffed about four of them into my mouth. not at once, silly.

these little trees, nicely priced at $8.95 each, were quite tempting. i thought one would look super cute at my desk at work, and maybe another two or three at home somewhere.

of course, by then, the line was crazy long to make a purchase. and you know me - i lack patience for that kind of thing. so i admired the pretty floral arrangements for sale, bid a fond farewell to my new friends, and bounced outta there. yeah, i ended up not using my discount on a single thing. oh, well.

but my night wasn't over. oh, no - far from it. because, of course, the teen and i had plans and tickets bought online for the midnight premiere of [swooning] "new moon."

we were going with BFF and a couple of other friends, whose parents were probably pretty happy not to be stuck with going. heh. the hub had texted me earlier in the evening, telling me that the lines were already pretty long. oy.

so i headed right to BFF's house, even though it was only 9:15, and i changed out of my skirt and tights into a pair of jeans and uggs that the hub had thoughtfully sent when he dropped off the teen. he was waiting at the theater, where he'd snagged a sweet parking spot right outside the theater's exit, and so i dropped the teens off to join the growing-by-the-minute line and meet up with him.

the bean was sound asleep in the back seat, and after he moved the pri-YES out of the spot and i slid in (well, okay, he might have had to park it for me, because i suck at parallel parking in my tiny car, let alone in his ginormous tahoe), he drove me around the front to pick up our tickets and then dropped me off to join the teens in line.

we were somewhere around the corner, wrapped around the building.

despite the chilly night and the long wait ahead, we were excited and cheerful.

we were pretty excited when the line began moving a little after 10:30. a theater employee came out with a megaphone to tell us that there were plenty of seats available and that we could enter any theater that said "new moon" on the marquee. wow, genius, thanks.

i was amused at the rules posted all along the route that the line had taken. so strict!

it seemed like the movie was playing on every screen. yay! we headed to the very furthest door to get the best seats.

for me, anyway, it isn't a trip to the movie theater without snacks. i headed to the concession stand and scooped up some popcorn and a soda - and was ridiculously giddy when i got my drink and saw my beloved jacob staring oh-so-intensely at me.

the last half hour of waiting proved to be too much for me, as i finally succumbed to my drowsiness and caught a quick catnap. i have a horrible habit of falling asleep during movies - both at home and in the theater - and i was hoping that this would be one of the few times i managed to stay awake, even though it was waaaaay past this old-timer's bedtime.

and i'm happy to say that i loved the movie so much that i was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as soon as it started. i didn't miss a nanosecond of it, and because new moon had been my favorite book of the series, i. loved. it. so much! hell, i wanted to see it again instantly. heh.

it was a slightly creepy drive home, as the streets were completely free of any traffic whatsoever. well, i guess 2:30 in the morning in the sleepy monrovia/duarte area isn't exactly rush hour.

we got home a little after 3:00, after having to wait for one parent to show up, and when we got home, the bean and the hub were both sprawled in the bed. i didn't have the heart to move either of them, and so i threw on some comfy sweats and slept quite comfortably on the couch with a fluffy blanket.

three hours later, i was up and getting ready for work. blech. but this helped:

it's my new reusable cold cup from starbucks! do you love it? i do. i especially love the candy cane-striped reusable straw.

except that i was rinsing it out at the sink, and it slipped right out of my fingers and down the drain.

FML.