all dolled up

you may have noticed that the teen's presence was rather limited during the bean's actual birthday party.  and why was that?  well, i happened to schedule the big bash on the same day as the homecoming dance.

yeah.  mom of the year, i tell ya.

but MIL had already booked her plane ticket to come home for the shindig, i'd already alerted a bunch of people as to the date well in advance to ensure their attendance, and it was just too late.  and so while we were ice cream social-in' it up here at home, the teen was out and about doing fun stuff like getting her hair and make-up done.

by the time i'd stuffed the last partygoer full of sugar and handed out the last goody box, she was finally home and killing the last bit of time before getting into her dress and heels for her big night.  she and her date were part of a group of about 50 kids, had already forked over the cash for the party bus and ordered flowers.  funny thing is, out of all those partiers, only one couple was actually going into the dance - and that was just to appease their folks by taking formal portraits with the dance photographer.  the hub and i just shook our heads as we discussed how this was all just an excuse to get all dolled up, take a whole bunch of pictures, and ride in one happy group to in-n-out for dinner (yup) and then out towards somewhere fun.  sheesh.

so a good month ago, rock-ell and i had made arrangements to get the teen out of the house one afternoon so that her date could make it official.  now, the way these kids do it these days is to pair up and go to these things as a big ass group - in most cases the couples aren't actual *couples* but simply friends who've decided to coordinate flowers and take pictures together.  still, it was fun to watch her come home, make the usual beeline to her room, and - well, this.

i was more aghast at the vast quantities of confetti that covered every square inch of the damn floor.

i'm pretty sure there's still confetti in the very darkest corners of the room.  ugh.

when it was time to head over to the house that the group was meeting at for pictures, all of the bean's party guests had already gone home.  most of the cleanup had already been done by then too, thanks to lots of hard work by the hub and MIL.  the bean was happily in the bathtub, playing with her grandma. the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

the first person we saw as we headed up the driveway was rock-ell.

the teen's date came over to say hello and introduce himself and his mother to me.  he seemed like a really nice boy, and we all watched and snapped away as they fumbled through putting their flowers on each other.  so cute.

do you love her nails?  bling bling, mofos.

BFFs.

you know i had to get one too.

the panoramic feature on the new iPhone OS6 is pretty snazzy.  how else would i have gotten a shot of the entire group?

i was exhausted and was in bed long before she got home.  i'm such an old lady.  haha!  and she reported the next morning that they'd all had a lot of fun.  the hub picked her up from the afterparty, there were no crazy shenanigans, and all was well.

now we have some time to relax until we have to think about...prom.  dun dun dunnnnn.

paparazzi, cha cha cha

being the ultimate procrastinator. i'd put off calling in an appointment for the teen to have her make-up done until, oh, about two days before.  oops.  and of course, every MAC counter and store within 20 miles was booked solid - save one at macy's.  all the way out in rancho cucamonga.  ugh.  but they had an opening at 1:00, which was perfect, so i took it.

after gymnastics, we had enough time to swing home, grab a few things, and head on out to the IE.  i pulled in to the parking lot and sent the teen in, as we'd gotten there right on time, and then found a parking spot and busted out the stroller.  as the bean and i are wheeling in, i get a text from the teen:

"they have no appointment for me."  what. the. fuck.  i was livid.  but i had no time to argue - we were on a pretty tight schedule, with her hair appointment back at home at 2:30, and the limo arriving at our house at 5.  shit.

we made our way to sephora, where we weren't surprised to find that they were also booked solid, and headed back to macy's to find a different cosmetics counter.  i thought maybe benefit might be a good pick - at least a bit more teen-friendly than, say, lancome or clinique.  and as luck would have it, the girl at the counter was willing to take her right away.  phew.

the bean and i took off to kill the hour, wandering into random shops, grabbing a pretzel, and riding the "choochoomonga train."

when i got the text from the teen that said she was all done, we hightailed it back and found her with a full face of make-up on.

we raced back to glendora, with her receiving frantic "where ARE you??" texts all the way, and dropped her off at the salon while i took the bean home to take a nap. 

when she got home with rock-ell and softballa, they were in a tizzy to put the final touches on their ensembles for the evening.  it was a whirl of hairspray, chiffon, and perfume all up in the house as they frantically got themselves together, and i stayed way out of the way as the teen railed about how she wasn't thrilled with her hair.  oy vey.  and amazingly, the bean managed to stay fast asleep in her room through all of the hullaballoo.

before i knew it, the hub and MIL had arrived - at the same time as the fourth musketeer, meow.  uh, and her parents.  the first set of many, many folks i'd never met before.  and in no time, my house was full of people, a good 80% of whom i'd never laid eyes on prior to that day.  it was super bizarre.  there were six couples going together to the dance, and that meant twelve sets of proud family members, armed with enough photographic equipment to rival paparazzi at any red carpet premiere.

this is the teen with her cousin, who's a junior at the school (but not attending the dance).

we had the kids stage a fake corsage/boutonniere photo op - i say "stage" because most of them didn't know how to put the damn things on.

awwww, don't they look cute?  i spent a lot of time biting my tongue, but letting a few "stand up straight!"s and "don't slouch!"es slip.  yeah, i was that kind of mom.

the photo shoot continued.

the teen and rock-ell got a little silly, relieved to finally be past the getting-ready stress.

finally, the limo arrived.  this turned out to be slightly stressful in itself, as the driver said he'd only been contracted to pick them up, take them to dinner, drop them off at the dance, and then bring them back home.  the kids' dream of cruising out to hollywood for some sightseeing was completely smashed to smithereens.  apparently, they'd taken so long to decide what they wanted to do (originally, they wanted to head to downtown disney, then to santa monica, and couldn't make up their minds) that no one had bothered to contact the limo company and make sure it was added into the itinerary.  and then i found it slightly shady that he was juggling the kids with a wedding party on the same night.  um, what?  and later i learned that FIL had greeted him when he'd arrived, only to be handed a big trash bag and asked to help clean the limo out - that wedding party's personal effects (like purses, wraps, etc.) had been strewn all across the seats and he was asked to just scoop it all up into the bag.

how pissed off would YOU be if you were that wedding party and learned that your stuff, which you'd thought was safe and secure, had been handled by somebody you didn't know?  hell no.  i wish i'd had a way to contact that bride and groom.  i'd totally have filled 'em in.  in any case, i texted the teen immediately and told her to tell everyone not to leave shit in the limo, lest the driver feel the need to clear it away while he chauffeured the wedding party around.

anyway, we finally ushered the kids out to the front so we could take some shots by the limo.  a hummer limo, no less.

more silliness.

this was my brilliant idea.  heh.

and then it was time to go.

a final shot from inside, and then they took off.

later, the teen checked in with the hub.  she said that the dance itself was super lame and that as much as they tried to sweet-talk him, the driver wouldn't budge about driving them out to hollywood.  but after a few words with the hub, he magically acquiesced.  i'm sure there was some cha-ching involved, but he wouldn't tell me exactly how much.  "i'm a sucker for her," was all he said.  awwwww.

the four musketeers were all spending the night, and MIL thought it would be a good idea to order a pizza to be delivered just before they were due home.  "you know how girls are - they probably didn't want to eat in front of the boys."  and remembering my own anti-grubbing policy back in high school, i agreed and placed the order. 

the limo pulled up just after midnight, emptying a carload of happy, relaxed teens.  the girls hobbled in, complaining of aching feet from the high heels they were unaccustomed to.  well, except for the teen, who'd worn glittery flats that went perfectly with her dress (and didn't make her taller than her date).  i'd warned her that she'd be miserable in heels, and for once she listened.  heh.

i was rather dismayed to note that only one parent had bothered to arrive on time to pick their kid up.  in fact, the last kid wasn't actually picked up until almost 1:00.  sheesh.  i'd only ordered one pizza, so i just kept it in the oven until just the four girls were left.  i felt bad, but hadn't anticipated feeding the whole group.  oh, well.

all in all, they'd had a fantabulous time and chattered about it nonstop until well past the time i finally dragged my tired ass to bed. 

i wonder what'll be next.

halloweenie teen

although she still doesn't have a real costume, the teen had some fun at target trying some on.

no, she didn't actually pick one of these.  meanwhile, i was torn between amusement and being grossed out by this one:

because really, what's the first thing you see?  yeah.  gorilla nipples.  not cute.

anyway, she's been super preoccupied with what comes a day before halloween:  homecoming.  oh, man.  between the floofy dress and the sparkly shoes and the limo and dinner and cruising out to hollywood afterwards and the "i need hair and makeup done!" i'm all homecoming-ed out.  damn.

we did go and have her nails done.  and she was so stoked when they were done:

okay, so yeah - they're totally cute on her.  now let's just hope she doesn't chip any of 'em before saturday night.  the day is already super tight between the hair and makeup appointments.  oy vey.  give me strength.