fabulousness

last week, i got to spend a whole day with a handful of my very best girlfriends - lilcee, kelley, and dailygluttony, plus lilcee's friend kaiser.  we were excited to head down to the gorgeous terranea resort for another installment of pamper me fabulous.  i can't believe it's already been a whole year since the last one.   i had somehow managed to win a pair of free tickets - after i'd already taken advantage of a killer deal via groupon - so i was looking forward to meeting up with my mom for a bit, too.

sexy hair was one of the big sponsors of the event.

as per our usual, we'd arrived nice and early.  i knew the place would fill up like mad in no time.

snagged the event photog for a "good" picture.

because we could, we hopped into the photo booth and hammed it up.

and even though i'd been looking forward to downing one or twelve of these, i held off due to the early hour.  heh.

as we wandered around, we found ourselves overlooking the area set up for the fitness classes we'd dressed for.  and if you look at the bottom of the schedule, you might catch a glimpse of someone familiar in a very zen-like yoga pose.

the obligatory group pic.  i really need to stop slouching in pictures.  i don't even know why i do that.  makes me look all dumpy and stuff.  ugh.

inside the bazaar, kelley found fresh coffee courtesy of the local whole foods.

the kaiser permanente booth was offering a pretty good discount on designer sunglasses.

i really wanted a pair that came in that fabulous blue box, but i restrained myself.  and when i turned around, i ran into someone very near and dear to my heart.

since we had different agendas for the day, we parted ways after a quick chat and a hug.  the girls and i continued to wander around the shopping area and found a pretty good deal on hair products.

i thought of my friend weezermonkey when we passed this booth.  i've gotta remember to email her the info for this company, since she'd been asking around for something like it.

when we headed back outside, i finally gave in to the craving for that strawberry qream drink.

as i sipped happily on my cocktail - which had a splash of godiva chocolate liqueur in it, making it into a liquefied chocolate covered strawberry with a kick - i spotted my mom at the cooking demonstration.

when it was time for our first fitness session - a yoga class - we spread out our tiny workout towels that we'd pilfered from an unmanned booth.

but as luck would have it, the hotel finally came through and brought out full-sized towels to keep us from getting itchy on the grass.  kelley, who's allergic, was grateful.

we'd hit the jackpot that day with a gorgeous afternoon overlooking the ocean.

hunger finally kicked in and we headed back up to grab some lunch.  just like last time, i opted for the super delicious gyro with grilled shrimp.

we stuck our heads into the sexy hair demonstration, but it was super packed and we weren't interested enough to stick it out.

our second (and last) fitness session was the les mills "bodycombat," a combination of martial arts that totally kicked my ass.  and kelley was really excited to find that the instructors present were among the creme de la creme of beach body coaches.  these folks were super kick ass, and we had a great (albeit exhausting) time in the class despite the pissed-off look on my face.

afterwards, we managed to get this:

so since we were all spent after having our asses handed to us down on the lawn, we trudged back up to grab our goody bags.  lilcee'd been told that this one was the best yet, and a quick glimpse inside was quite promising.

i may have groaned aloud when i realized that we'd have to drag our asses up these damn stairs to get back to the car.

although we didn't score on a free manicure (and no free haircut for me either) this time around, it was still super fun.  our friend winnie had snuck away from other obligations for a couple of hours to join us, and it was just a really fabulous day out with the girls.  i love hanging out with my friends.

freebie-lovin' fools

so a few months ago, lilcee and i went to an awesome all-day girly thing called pamper me fabulous.  we had so much fun that even before we were done exploring all of the fun stuff, we'd already signed up for the spring session.

and wow, time flies - because it was this past weekend.  yup, poor lilcee had to put up with my ass over both of her days off.  heh.  and our friend winnie came too, making us a terrific trio.

this time around, the event was held in downtown l.a. at the vibiana.  i'd never been here before, and found it pretty interesting that the building was formerly a church.

we arrived an hour and fifteen minutes early for this thing, and couldn't believe the number of chicks already lined up at the entrance.

because we were so early, we managed to find street parking (for free!) and didn't have to spend a cent at any of the pricey surrounding lots.

and dang, it was chilly!  we'd opted to wear workout clothing this time, hoping to get into one of the fitness activities, and shivered as we waited in line.  we were happy when the doors were finally open and proceeded to the check-in area, where we got our handstamp and wristband.

imagine how cold this dude must've been.

the first thing we encountered was a display from benefit cosmetics.

there was a nice lounge area set up in the middle of the outdoor space.

there wasn't a whole lot of stuff set up out there, so we decided to get in line and wait for the exhibit area to open up.  on the way there, i threw caution to the wind and scooped up a sample of this strawberry cream liqueur.  what the hell, i wasn't driving.

i'm happy to report that this non-drinker thought this stuff was really delicious.  it tasted like strawberry milk, without even a hint of that nasty alcohol aftertaste.  of course, you know what that means - that shit is dangerous.  heh.

when i stepped out of line to find a trash can for my little cup, i might have accepted a few other samples of tasty treats.

when the bazaar was finally open, we decided to spread out in an effort to sign up for whatever we could find.  unfortunately, lilcee and i were pretty disappointed when we compared this event to the one we'd attended in november.  it was considerably smaller with not even half of the vendors we'd seen last time.  boo.  maybe that explains the bitchy ass mindset most of the attendees were in - chicks were crabby and grabby and flat-out rude in some cases.  they were cutting in lines, snapping at others in those lines, snatching up stuff right in front of other people.  i wanted to bitchslap a good majority of 'em.

the church aspect of it all made the event slightly odd for me.  like, there was a DJ at the altar, and the service vendors were set up in spaces lined with confession booths.

plus, without the expansive grounds of the terranea resort, this was the only room available for the fitness sessions.  this time, there were only two, and they were back to back half-hour yoga sessions.  we made sure to get spots in the first one, and i got a good stretch.  since i'd been super lazy and hadn't worked out in three whole days, it was good to do something.

lilcee managed to snag us appointments at the OPI nail lounge and hand massages from aveda.  she even timed them just right so that we could get our nails done after yoga, grab some lunch, and have enough time to allow our nails to dry before the massage.  sweet!

for lunch, we had two choices at $8 each - a sad-looking cup of quinoa salad from whole foods, or a mini-burrito stuffed with garlic fried rice, an egg, and either beef or chicken with a bottle of water and a bag of chips from the white rabbit food truck.

come on now - a cup of boring healthy crap vs. the food of my people?  easy choice.  plus, they had macarons - either an ube-flavored shell with coconut filling or plain with chocolate.

despite the small stature of the "mini" burrito, we were pretty full.  i think it might have been the handfuls of pretzel chips we'd chowed on before yoga.  and while we were waiting our turn to pile some of those chips onto a plate, this crazy woman turned around and barked at us about not standing in the right place.  i tell you, free shit makes people cray cray.

oh, and here's something else i giggled at - a massage table with a strategically-placed soft insert, aimed towards well-endowed women.

photo booth!

after our hand massages, we were pretty much over it.  in order to get our fabulous goody bags, we had to turn over our pretty pink wristbands and fill out a quick survey.

but it was worth it.  you can't see from this shot, but there's full-sized skincare products and lotion and snacks and nail polish in here.

it looks like the next one in our area returns to the terranea resort in november.  who's coming with us this time?