don't be a freeloader

okay, confession time:  the old lady has had the worst craving for just a little bit of peanut butter frozen yogurt for a solid week.  and yes, i know we're supposed to be doing this whole clean eating diet thing.  but yesterday was "international frozen yogurt day."  and yogurtland happened to be giving away a free self-serve cup right around the time that we dropped the bean off for her hula class - which also happens to be in the same shopping center as the dance studio.

i mean...we had to, right?  right??

of course, there was a line that wrapped around the exterior of the store.  but it looked worse than it was, mostly because they were just trying to control the number of people inside the store so that the crowds were kept to a minimum.  and as we waited outside the window, something inside caught my attention.  this grown ass woman was standing at the yogurt machines serving herself the most ridiculous amount of frozen yogurt, basically piling it as high as she possibly could to take full advantage of the freebie.

come on.  that's ridiculous, right?  and when she moved to the toppings counter, the guy standing next to her totally did a double-take.

and then the employee who emerged from the back caught a glimpse.

she wasn't the only one, though.  her companion was also attempting to squeeze in as much free fro-yo as she possibly could.

so okay, i'm all for fun freebies.  it's always awesome to get something just for showing up, right?  but i just couldn't get over how gross and entitled that was.  mr. yogurtland or whoever makes the decisions to do free events like that couldn't have had that in mind, and i would think that most people wouldn't be assholish enough to take advantage to the extreme.  and what sort of example does that set for kids?  maybe i'm being a tight ass or a prude or whatnot, but my pearls were firmly clutched in my hand as i watched this all go down.  i may or may not have had a vision in my head of them tripping on their way out of the store...but the old lady said i was being a dick, so i tried to stop laughing at it.

once they left, it was finally our turn to go inside for our free treat.  we were handed our specially sized cup for the occasion:

and i headed straight towards the featured flavor.

i added a few dark chocolate chips to my small swirl and headed to the register to accept a spoon from the smiling employee who was standing there.

as i waited for the old lady to join me, i chatted a little with him and commented on the two women who had just left.  he said that they were well known at the shop, as this was the third year in a row they'd been there for the free yogurt day and had done the same thing.  i asked if there were others who took advantage to that extent, and he said he'd seen about five or six people that evening.  and mind you, the free yogurt was only available from 4:00 till 7:00.

so yeah, i totally blew my diet on a monday.  but was it worth it?  oh, hell yeah.

swirling our way to the finish

it'd been awhile since i got to run with my friend delovelydetails and her hubby.  she's been crazy busy with expanding her business, which has been super exciting for them.  so when she sent me a link to a 10K and invited me to join them, i hesitated for about a split second before signing up.  see, 10K is my least favorite distance to run.  i love 5Ks and i'll do a half marathon, but 10K is inexplicably miserable for me.  not to mention, i was already signed up for a 5K the day after...but i figured if i could power through 3 barre classes in 2 days, i could do this.  never mind that it was all going to happen one right after another.  beast mode!

we arrived at irvine meadows amphitheater with plenty of time to check in, browse the expo and hang out for a bit.  the bib pickup process was really organized and easy breezy.

photo op!  we took advantage of it before the crowds arrived and it got crazy.

this right here was going to serve as our motivation to get through 6.2 miles:

and this was about as empty as we were ever gonna see it.

we registered for free cake, because, well...cake.

hula hoop!  i thought i was jammin' there for a bit...

womp womp.

the bag check area was pretty cute - instead of boring old alphabetical order, they assigned you a froyo topping to locate your bag.

okay, we are definitely dorks.  we spied those helpful honda guys in blue and had to.  you would too!

then it was time to head to the start line.

after the national anthem was sung, we were off...with a drone overhead capturing all the action.  a little creepy, but kind of cool too.

i don't even remember the first mile, so we came up onto this mile marker before we realized how far we'd already gone.

there were volunteers and loud music to cheer us on every so often.

the "flat and fast" course wasn't exactly that - there was a pretty gnarly hill about halfway through the first 5K.  we got through it and then found ourselves doing a loop around the parking lot:

and then we headed into the amphitheater area, where there was a fun misting station to run through.

the last time i was here, the old lady and i were going to one of our bazillion jonas brothers concerts.

halfway done!

this is why i don't love 10Ks so much - i'm not a huge fan of running past the finish line before i'm actually about to cross it.  in fact, that shit just plain sucks.

and this one was just the 5K...twice.  this meant heading back up that hill for a second time.

that didn't stop me from taking advantage of another photo op at the top, though.

quick selfie just before the finish!

the "motivation" station volunteers didn't really seem into it.  at least they were blasting some fun music.

all done!  yup - the medal was a spoon.  cute and unique!

time to "treat yoself."

the froyo area was definitely more crowded now.

one last finisher's photo and then we were outta there.

they're doing this run in the l.a. area in a couple of weeks, too.  i would totally do it again if we didn't already have unalterable plans.  a nice cup of frozen yogurt with an assload of toppings was really nice to celebrate a run with.  if this race comes to your area, i highly recommend it!

hot up in herrrrrre

that crazy, record-breaking heat wave that our friends on the east coast were dealing with a couple of weeks ago meandered out west last week, bringing high temperatures and miserable levels of humidity. i gotta say, it was pretty effing miserable.  this is southern california, people!  we shouldn't be struggling with the same kinda crappy weather that we experienced in texas last summer.  ugh.

but it was fun to find a few ways to beat the heat - and free, to boot!  like, on 7-11 we were treated to some free slurpees.  they do this every year, although i don't remember having to wait in the tiny lot to get a parking spot.  and then when we got inside, the line to the slurpee machine snaked through the whole store and almost back up to the front door.  the staff had obviously been watching the parade of freebie-loving folks traipse in and out, and stood behind the counter with amused smirks on their faces. there were stacks of the special little cups placed everywhere.

i picked up the lemon creme flavor for myself and made brother wan the guinea pig as he got a cup of the watermelon lime.  MIL and the bean chose the sugar-free strawberry banana, and everyone was happy.

it's not often that starbucks offers free samples in anything other than those tiny cups that they sometimes put out for new flavors and things.  so when i spotted a sign offering their new refreshers drinks in the tall cups, the teen and i took full advantage.  lime for me, berry for her.

final verdict?  meh.  the lime was pretty good and reminded me of a mojito, but i actually liked the berry better despite the little chunks of fruit floating around at the top and bottom of the drink.  strain that shit out and maybe i'll drink it.

oh, and not a freebie but still definitely worth a mention - the return of hello kitty to yogurtland!  we have a nice little collection of those biodegradable pastel-colored spoons adorned with my favorite sanrio characters from last year, and i was thrilled to add to it with the 2012 collection.  check out my swag:

i'm kind of bummed that there aren't any t-shirts this year, but as the teen says - i don't really need any more.  especially when you consider the ridiculous collection of race shirts i've built up over the last seven months.  

i swear, sometimes i think she's the grown-up in this relationship.

shopping, small fries, sushi, shopping

wait, did i say "shopping"? yeah. there's nothing like having a vacation to buy pretty new things for! whee!

friday the hub came home early to celebrate one of my favorite holidays: the first day of the nordstrom anniversary sale. you think i'm kidding, but this day has been circled in red on my calendar for weeks. heh.

i didn't actually find a whole lot of stuff - i picked up two dresses, a top, some tights, a cute red juicy hoodie, and some new laura mercier eye makeup. wow, when i look at that list, it sounds like a crapload, huh? let's just say that previous years have resulted in a bigger haul and leave it at that.

we also swung into macy's and picked up a cool new suitcase for the teen to share with the bean for our trip. it's by tommy bahama, and it's the only one i could get the hub to agree on that wasn't boring ass black. plus, it was half off! i dig it - it's very tropical and hawaiian-y. yay!

saturday had me up nice and early to get the bean ready for her first date with small fries, set up by her auntie monkey. if you haven't already, you can check out her recap here. i'm always reminded of what a horrible photographer i am when i compare her fabulous shots to mine, and we have the same damn camera! i've got no excuses. bleh.

we swung by and picked up auntie amber at her new casa (which is adorable, from the bit i was able to peek at through the front door - the bean was snoozing in the car), and i giggled a little at the box of pastries she brought along. i always knew we were sisters for real!

we met up with the monkey, parked the car, and we took off for tiara cafe, which i'd wanted to try for a long time. after perusing the menu, we placed an order for food to go, which we brought to the monkey's loft and chowed on while watching the babies play.

it was lots of fun watching the babies alternate between grabbing at small fries' toys (his mom was so way better prepared than the bean's crappy ass mom) and grinning at each other. the bean is quite the flirt - she kept touching poor small fries on his head, grabbing at his hand, squeezing his tushie.

a fun time was had by all, and we even managed to grab some pinkberry-esque yogurt before parting ways. oh! it was delicious. i want some right now.

when we got home, the hub was enjoying a cigar and reading a magazine in the front yard. he was hungry, and although i'd plowed through my lunch AND the yogurt, i was too. sheesh. so off we went, and as we often do, we ended up in old town pasadena.

after grabbing some yummy eats at sushi roku, we wandered through a few stores and ended up at the juicy couture store. the hub picked out some adorable tops for the bean off of the sale rack, while i wandered around the grown-up sale selections. and of course, i managed to find some cute stuff to try on.

after being inspired by FGD and the monkey's fabulous coats last winter, i tried this one on.

a sweet little beach coverup that was a bit lower cut in front than i originally thought, but i took the picture anyway.

i loved this maxi dress. it was light and airy, and - dare i say it? - it was even more comfy than my beloved gypsy05 maxi dresses.

i liked this chair. it says "for nice girls who like stuff." that is me, yes?

i ended up with all of it, plus a couple of things for the bean AND two cute little terry beach cover-ups for the teen. she's going to be so excited when she sees them - i think i'll just pack them in her suitcase and let her find them when we get to paradise. whee!

speaking of the teen, BFF's mom and i told them about BFF joining us on our trip last week. she'd spent the night at our house after the concerts, and when her mom came to pick her up after the final show, we decided to tell them. it was fun watching their jaws literally fall open as the words sunk into their brains, and the teen threw her arms around BFF in jubilation. they were SO excited, and i knew they would totally be counting down the hours.

we picked up a few things at barnes & noble, and then i got another pinkberry sorbetto from the starbucks next door. those things are so delicious. i shared it with the bean as we walked through restoration hardware and a few other shops.

babyfest at the monkey's loft, sushi dinner, pinkberry through a straw and a bag full of fun new juicy couture stuff. i'd say it was quite a lovely saturday. and the weekend wasn't even over yet!