looking back at the last three months

so back in july, the hub and i finally decided to pull the trigger on something we'd been working on for about a year with a local architect.  we've lived in this house now for about eight years (!), and never really spent a lot of time in the back yard.  and so after a lot of back and forth, many changes and tweaks, the plans were submitted to the city for approval before finally breaking ground on a total remodel of all that unused space back there.

i almost forgot to take the "before" pictures:

it's not a huge yard, but there's still plenty of usable space back there, right?  we thought so too, and as things started happening and yard started clearing out it got easier to spot the potential back there.

along with the changes came this lovely porta-potty that sat at the side of the house.

pretty soon the patio cover came down:

and then the grass was gone.

it was a little alarming to see the back of my house looking like this for awhile:

and you know i had to do this at least once.

holy cow, it was a disaster.  and the guys were there every morning, monday through friday, right around 7am working all day till about 4:00.  i'm sure we're the favorite neighbor around here.

one day i looked back there and all of a sudden there was a giant hole!

within a couple of days it looked like this.

and our new patio cover was coming along too.

even when we weren't home, our camera system made it easy to peek back there at the progress.

the new patio cover is really sturdy.  it's basically built right in as part of our roof, with 5-foot deep footings.  that thing isn't going anywhere.  hell, if we have an earthquake that's where i'm heading.

it looked really nice once it was all closed up.

the hub and i went out one morning to pick out rock for the wall, and the guys got to work on it right away.

the girls would go back there now and then to stand in the empty pool and dream of when they could jump in and cool off from the heat.

pretty soon it was time to pick out pool tile (we didn't end up with either of these).

the bean was fascinated as she watched them start pouring the concrete for the patio.

and just like that, it started looking like a real backyard.

yup, that's astroturf.  no more watering or mowing the lawn for us!

spot the bean:

then there were bushes and lights and fun industrial-looking chandeliers that the old lady deemed "too hipster" for her liking.  heh.

while we were at disneyland for my birthday, the guys filled the pool.  too bad that one of them totally forgot that the hose was still on when they all left for the afternoon.  when we got home we were greeted with a lovely waterfall going down the driveway and a very, very soaked back yard.  all of a sudden we had an infinity pool...and i'm not gonna lie, i kind of wish we'd gone that route.  it looked pretty cool (if you set aside the fact that there was so much water everywhere).

the next day, the hub took a conference call while wading in the shallow end.

i rather enjoyed sitting on the edge of the spa and dunking my feet in, listening to the music on the surround sound speakers and watching the fountains run into the pool.

and the bean was the first one to jump all the way in.  the water was pretty chilly, since we were instructed to wait at least two weeks before turning on the heater for fear of cracking the plaster.  she didn't care though, she was just so excited to get in there.

and on saturday, we'll get to share it all with about 20 of the bean's closest friends (and some of their parents) as we celebrate her 11th birthday with our first house party since she turned 5.

this, of course, means tons of prep to get the house looking decent and finish off the last of the final touches back there.  wish us luck.

my little noodle

i've never really been a strong swimmer.  sure, i can doggy paddle and i could probably survive if i had to, but i can't dive in and glide through it like all professional and stuff.  and i hate having water in my ears and face.  it just bugs me.

but the teen is a great swimmer.  and i want the bean to be, too.  except that when i was finally able to enroll her into swimming lessons, the timing of the sessions just didn't work with our schedules.  the lessons are two weeks long, with a half-hour session every weekday.  well, either we had something planned, or we were going away, or something.  so we weren't able to get signed up until way late - with summer damn near over.  although i guess it didn't matter too much anyway, since it's not like we have a pool for her to practice in.  we just want her to learn the basics and water safety and stuff.

she was excited for her lessons.  the few times that we do get her into a pool, she really digs it.  although i was a little worried about how she would handle going in with someone she didn't know, without one of us in the water with her.

but she was stoked enough about getting in there that she totally overlooked those facts and got right in.

it was fun to watch her giggle and joke around with her instructor, who showed her fun stuff like blowing bubbles in the water and using the noodles to swim without wearing floaties.  i thought it was pretty cool when he tied one of them around her body so she could swim all by herself.

she was pretty proud of herself, too.  although she wasn't thrilled when he took that same noodle that was so fun a few minutes before, dunked it below the surface towards one of the jets, and let the water flow through it and over her head.  that was not her favorite part.

damn.  she's totally like her mother.  we're gonna have to take advantage of the extended fall sessions available at the local pool, because this one is over and we didn't make nearly as much progress as we'd hoped for.  oh, well.

HOW much for pasta, chicken fingers, and a sandwich?

finally, the hub was coming home. yay! next to his trip to africa last year, this was one of the longest separations we'd ever had. i know it sounds wussy as hell, but i miss him if he's gone for more than a night or two.

his flight was scheduled to arrive at midnight on saturday, and since we'd taken him to the airport, we obviously had to pick him up too. and during a quick conversation while driving to the liberty bell, he suggested that we scoop up the teen's BFF, head down to the beach, and check into a nearby hotel. and after checking around, pulling up rates, and vetoing the oh-so-trendy shade, we settled on the belamar in manhattan beach. sweet!

after running a crapload of errands (not least of which was dropping off my fabulous gypsy05 dresses at the cleaners to have them hemmed), we picked up BFF and drove our happy asses down towards our hotel. since the belamar had a pool, we decided to forego the beach and hang out there.

we made a pitstop at plaza el segundo, a new-ish shopping plaza on the way to the belamar. i wanted to make a stop at the mac store with a coupon i'd gotten online for a free lipstick, and the girls wanted to check out the rest of the shops. sadly for me, the lipsticks were all gone, so we settled for doing some window shopping instead. these were some pretty nice, upscale (read: pricey as all hell) shops, although i did manage to score on this dress from j. crew - on clearance for $25! whee!

as we strolled along, we became increasingly aware of lots of folks shoveling spoonfuls of cold, creamy pinkberry into their mouths. BFF hadn't yet been, but the teen and i were practically jumping out of our skin at the thought of grabbing cups of the yummy, tart goodness.

we walked into m.fredric kids, where we were all drawn to the wide selection of adorable merchandise for the bean. BFF's brother is expecting a baby girl with his girlfriend in september, so she was just as bowled over by the cuteness overload in there. alas, we walked out empty-handed as the average price for stuff in there was $50. yikes.

and then, on the other side of bcbg, there it was:

yup, that's the line we stood in. it was kind of crazy for a friday afternoon, but hey - we were in no rush to get anywhere or do anything, so we had all the time in the world to wait for our treat. and when we finally got it, it was oh so worth it. the teen shared hers with BFF, who ended up liking it a lot. heh.

we got back in the car and headed down to the hotel, and waited for quite a while until the poor valet-slash-bellhop dude finally managed to make his way to us. we put our bags on the cart, which he wheeled into the lobby. and as i checked in, the receptionist said that they'd deliver the bags to us as soon as they could. the teen and i eyed each other, the valet, and our bags and decided to lug our own baggage up the stairs and down the hall to our room.

the hotel is cute. it's obviously an old hotel that was taken over and redecorated in an effort to become one of those impossibly cool, modern boutique hotels.

and our room was nice. small, but comfortable and cute.

the teen found some reading material in the bedside drawer.

and i was amused to find instructions on the package of cotton swabs.

screwing around while getting settled in.

we finally decided to get up and head out to the pool, making sure to bring the floating seat for the bean. the teen graciously offered to blow it up and get it all ready, after testing the water with her toe and declaring it to be nice and warm. i found the framed photo of the chihuahua above the fireplace a bit odd, but hey, whatever. and it was a gorgeous afternoon.

the bean really liked being in the pool, and it was cute to watch her kick her chubby little legs and bend forward to swoosh her hands in the water. our next house will have to have a pool, fo' sho'.

about 2.5 seconds after we got there, the gate opened and in came a couple who were obviously on their honeymoon (they were all.over.each.other and totally giggly and stuff), and obviously annoyed to see that they weren't alone. they kept shooting us dirty ass looks and whispering to each other, even though we weren't being noisy and obnoxious (for once). hell, the teen even waited till they finally left to let out a whoop and cannonball into the deep end.

this is my new favorite picture of my girls. i'm going to enlarge it and frame it, i love it so much.

and we stayed in the water for so long, the bean's feet were all shriveled and wrinkly. haha!

when we got back to our room, BFF and then the teen got in the shower, and i pulled the bean's sopping wet diaper off. BFF and i were amazed at the amount of water that thing could hold. and then the bean frolicked on the floor as she waited for her turn in the bath.

after debating the possibilities for dinner, i decided to go upstairs to the hotel restaurant and check out the menu. but i took one look at the loud group of women who were there for a bachelorette party and decided to peruse the room service selections instead. too bad, because it looked like a pretty cool restaurant. i giggled at the televisions that were showing episodes of "the brady bunch" and OG "charlie's angels."

i took the kids' menu and regular dinner menu back to the room, where the girls decided to split 3 kids' entrees. i went for the skirt steak wrap - which was slices of thinly cut grilled meat, roasted corn, fresh spinach, and mashed potatoes all wrapped neatly in a chipotle tortilla. we added drinks and a plate of mini cupcakes from becker's bakery, and then the bean and i got into the bath so that we'd be all squeaky clean for dinner.

of course, it arrived while we were finishing up in the tub, and the teen was more than happy to sign the slip (although she tells me that the server gave her the side eye and an attitude). she ran in to ask me about gratuity - which i sputtered at, considering the delivery fee, plus 20% automatic service charge. our simple meal turned into an $80 dinner. yikes.

i decided to try and get artistic with the purty flower that came on the tray. ha! i'm so not good at it.

after the long day, we all conked out early. guess who fell asleep first?