comedy of errors

well, at least it was for a good chunk of the afternoon. heh.

since meeting the monkey, i've become a sucker for the twice-yearly paul frank warehouse sale. it's down in the OC, in costa mesa, and is typically in june and december over a weekend - usually beginning on friday. so whenever i get the e-mail alerting me to the next one, i totally plan around it to make sure i can go and see what kind of fun goodies i can score. i've always had to settle for going on saturday - almost always the busiest day of the sale - but this time, i was totally free to head down on friday. whee!

i invited my buddy MommyBelle, who's one of my oldest and dearest friends. she's one of the few people i can be my true dorky self with, who gives the kookiness right back. and it's even more fun to hang out with her since her son (who she's dubbed "little fat man") is a couple of months older than the bean. we trade stories, ooh and ahh over their milestones and achievements, and laugh about everything from britney spears to the crazy shit our husbands do and say. we met at work, which is where the hub and i first met. good times.

so my friday morning started bright and early - i actually got up, took a shower, and got ready before taking the teen to school. MB and LFM were meeting us at our house, and we wanted to get down there early so we could have our pick of all the best merchandise, before the hordes arrived and picked through all the good shit. and when i got back home, got the bean ready, and started to feed her, the phone rang.

i KNEW it was MB, and from my trusty caller ID, i could see that her ass was still at home!

"i can't find my moby wrap!"

i told her not to worry - i'm the freaking QUEEN of baby carriers, with no less than four different methods of strapping the bean to my person. we hung up, and then about ten minutes later it rang again. and this time, i could tell she was on her way, because she was calling from her cell.

"what exit do i get off for your house again?"

she kills me.

finally, they arrived, having left her older daughter at home with a sitter. little princess is three years old, cute as hell, and so damn funny. a few months ago, MB called me and asked LP, "why is brother a boy?" and in the background, i heard LP's response: "because him has a wiener."

i die laughing every time i remember that conversation. every. stinking. time.

we sat there and watched the kids play on the floor for a few minutes, chatting with the hub and marveling at the sheer size of LFM. remember, he was the giant baby i posted here. he's gotten even cuter, and he's crawling like a champ! the bean watched him pretty closely (and, from my last post, you can see how well she paid attention), and then we decided to get going.

"you aren't going to go crazy with the shopping, right?" the hub said.
"oh, no, i'll be good," i promised.

i know you're raising an eyebrow right now.

so MB strapped LFM's car seat in to my car, right next to the bean, and we were finally on our way. about halfway there, the bean started WAILING. ugh. she hasn't done that in a long time, but it was naptime, and we were thinking she was probably a bit thrown by having a playmate sitting next to her in the car. i knew there wasn't anything i could do for her - she was tired, and it wasn't like i could pull her out and rock her to sleep in a moving car. so she cried until she finally tired herself out - and of course, it was only about 10 minutes before we got to costa mesa.

we decided to visit MB's sister, who works as a barista at a starbucks not far from the warehouse sale. she gave us free drinks, and as she visited with MB and LFM, the bean and i settled into a comfy chair in the back so i could give her a snack and hold her for a few minutes. i sucked down half my drink, gobbled up a chocolate croissant, and then we said goodbye and got back in the car.

as we pulled up to the warehouse, i was bummed to see the long ass line waiting to get into the sale. damn. i thought going on a weekday would've made it easier, but not so much. oh, well. we managed to score a parking spot after waiting for this lady to pack her giant, overstuffed shopping bag of PF goodies and sit there, adjusting mirrors, picking her nose, scratching her ass, whatever it was she did that took effing forever before she finally pulled out.

we got the kids settled in our carriers, made sure to bring credit cards and IDs, and made our way to the end of the line. i couldn't help but smile at the colorful building and the big julius sign that adorned it.

i was also looking forward to going into the little PF store located inside the building. they always have their stuff on sale too, during the warehouse sale, and i always find even more goodies in there. one of the girls behind us went in there as her friend stayed in line, and came back with a great bag of stuff, which she showed off to us. and she had LFM model the most adorable little beanie.

we stood there, chatting and laughing, and getting both babies to nap while in line. they were only letting in a handful of folks at a time, every half hour or so, and we were in for quite a wait. and then as we got closer and closer to the front, we heard a siren and turned around to see a fire truck pulling in.

crap!

along with the others in line, we grumbled, bitched and moaned over the added obstacle to getting inside - evil, i know, considering the fire dudes were obviously there for a reason. they hopped out of the truck, carrying various cases, and we knew someone must've been hurting in there.

luckily for everyone involved, they were done in a matter of minutes and left as we were finally getting our pink entry sticker from an employee who was awfully chipper. yay for us! and i was amused at the list of rules for the sale. them PF employees are strict, yo.

and then it was finally our turn. we walked in and followed the crowd to the goods.

it was crazy. and HOT. it didn't take long before MB and i were sweating our asses off, digging and hunting through the various boxes for fun stuff like bags, hats, jammies, socks, gloves, and this cool ass diaper bag i'd seen at the little shop on balboa island. dudes, the bag was $12!! and it retailed for $70+! major score.

i just kept chucking shit into my big ass plastic bag, figuring i'd weed through it all once i'd gone through the entire sales floor like i always do. i found stuff for the teen, for the bean, and presents for a friend's son whose birthday is next week. and, of course, i picked up a couple of things for myself. hee!

poor bean. she was still blissfully sleeping for part of my mad shopping, but as i continued to bend, squat, grunt, and heave that heavy bag behind me, i was totally sweating all over her. and, because she is my child, she was working up quite a sweat all on her own. yikes.

MB and i finally found each other again, and after securing a clear spot to go through our bags, we did just that - and i got rid of a shitload of stuff i decided i didn't really need. but i got tired of it about halfway through my bag, gave up, and thought "fuck it, i'll find a use for all of it."

we made our way past the watches, sunglasses and bathing suits (i stopped to look for a fun watch, but didn't see one i liked) and got in line to check out. the first time i came, the teen had brought a wad of birthday cash and picked out a bag full of stuff for herself and BFF. but as the cashier proceeded to add everything up, the total came to FAR more than the money she had.

"how much have you got?" she asked.

after counting through her wallet, the teen muttered "i've got $115.75."

the cashier looked at me, saw my own bulging bag of stuff, and smiled brightly. "you're good! your total's $110." and then when she rang me up, i walked away with a similar discount. awesome.

so i was totally talking up the guy scanning through all the crap i had. he was pretty friendly, but kept saying "i sure want to help you out, i'll do what i can, but i can only do so much." i did see him throw a shitload of items into the bag without scanning them as he grinned at me, which made me smile.

and yet when i took my bag and invoice to the registers, i STILL had FOUR pages' worth. and i about fell over when i saw my total. let's just say that it started with a 3, and ended with an "oh shit what did i just do i better be able to sell some of this stuff on ebay." mm-hmm.

on the way out, i snapped a picture of this adorable julius-adorned scooter.

as MB and LFM waited at the door, i cruised around inside the company store. i saw a whole mess of stuff i wanted, but i'd already spent far too much cash, so i forced myself to stop looking and just leave. so sad.

we loaded the bags into the trunk, strapped the kids into their car seats, and headed back towards the freeway. MB was freaking out because we'd been gone much, much later than she'd anticipated (and told the sitter), and she'd left her phone in the car. i was a little worried because it'd been several hours since the bean had eaten, and i was fairly certain she'd be hungry and cranky.

luckily, MB's sitter was totally cool and didn't mind having been left for several hours longer than she'd planned. i wasn't so lucky - even before we got onto the freeway, the bean started wailing again. shit. i didn't have a bottle for her, MB scrambled to check for an extra one to at least give her some water, but no luck. and so when we got to the next red light, we pulled a (i know this is SO un-PC) chinese fire drill. i hopped into the back seat, MB ran around and got behind the wheel, and i totally morphed into britney spears as i took the bean out and fed her.

yup.

but i hadn't shut the door hard enough. so we were on the freeway, in the carpool lane, and my door was locked but not closed all the way. WITH THE CHILD LOCK ON. i couldn't even open the fucking door to slam it shut. but we hit some traffic and slowed to a stop, so as MB laughed her ass off at me, i rolled down the window, stuck my hand out, and opened the damn door from the outside and pulled on it hard. yikes. let's never speak of this again, yes?

we made it back home in record time (even with MB's TWO speeding tickets in a span of a couple of months, heh) and at my suggestion, she didn't bother to unstrap LFM before taking the whole seat out and transferring him into her car.

the bean and i went inside to relax and unwind, and as i ate a hot pocket (so delicious), i sorted through my loot and separated everything into piles.

for the friend's little boy:

for the teen:

the bean's stuff:

and, of course, a few things for me.

i realized as i sorted through that there wasn't really much that i wanted to sell on ebay aside from a pair of slippers and maybe a couple of cute bags. and my free gift - an iPod nano case - is totally going up for sale. i don't even HAVE a damn nano. heh.

i guess i better get to work on drumming up some business.

the bean, mobile version

holy shit! check it out:





yesterday afternoon, she finally figured out that if she moves her arms AND her legs, she can get places. yay! but oh, mah baby's growin' up. mah baby!

and the journey continues...

no. more. fro. yo.

okay, so it got a little ridiculous. after i picked up the teen from school, we headed out to claremont, where there's a SELF-SERVE ce fiore.

oh, yes. i was picturing a lovely cup of mochi with yogurt topping. the teen was only slightly amused, but i was giddy.

thank goodness for the navi, because i would have totally passed the shop without it. it's stuck in a shitty little strip mall, right next to a cvs pharmacy. but we found it! whee!

after a taste test of the peanut butter yogurt, the teen opted for a small cup of it with heath bar topping. she pronounced it "delish" and dug right in.

as for me, i had so much fun serving my own yogurt, watching it twirl down into my cup, that i ended up with more than i'd intended. and then i headed over to the toppings bar and damn near emptied the container of mochi bits. ha!

the bean had some, too. yogurt, not mochi. i think ce fiore's original flavor actually has a slightly bitter aftertaste, and i'd say the bean agreed. but she kept coming back for more!

next time we go, we're so going to try a yogurt-topped waffle.

and now i'm thinking that all three of us are pretty yogurt-ed out for a while. really! i don't plan on going out of my way to get yogurt for at LEAST a week, maybe two. ;)

we went home, i pulled out my OG kobe jersey, and watched my beloved lakers go down in flames. damn.

hey, whatever. it was only game 1. we'll bring it in the next game.

i need professional help.

okay, well, that's nothing new. maybe you've noticed that once i discover something i like, it turns into an absolute obsession, and ihavetohaveitrightnow! heh.

yesterday's weather was so weird - it was gray and gloomy and drizzly, which pissed me off as i pulled out of the garage in my clean, shiny, just-washed car. normally, i dig june gloom, but not after i just spent $35+ on a fucking car wash! oh, well.

new shopping centers seem to be popping up everywhere around me. first there was the americana at brand, and now the shoppes at chino hills. i'd first heard of the latter at the bean's gymboree class, where the teacher and a couple of the other moms were excitedly chattering about the new gymboree store opening there. well, y'all know i love shopping, and i dig checking out new places to indulge, so it was inevitable that i'd make my way there in no time. not to mention, there's a pinkberry there. remember that ihavetohaveitrightnow feeling i just talked about? this is where that kicks in. and dammit, i'm salivating again at the thought.

so after i picked up the teen from school, we headed down the freeway and towards chino hills. it's really not very far from our casa, so it only took about 20 minutes-ish to get there, which is good AND bad. ha! and the teen was hungry, so we swung into the drive-thru at chick-fil-a. and then we totally laughed our asses off as we admitted to each other that we'd both wondered what the actual pronunciation of that damn place is. ha!

she went with some nuggets while i opted for a slightly healthier option - a wrap with grilled chicken. it was pretty yummy.

as we pulled out of the parking lot (it was located in a plaza across the street from "the shoppes"), i noticed a sign for ce fiore on an adjacent building. and then the great debate began in my head: do i stop and give it a try, or do i just wait, stick it out, and pick up a cup from tried-and-true pinkberry, my newest craving?

you know what option i went with. i know you do. keep reading.

so the shoppes are laid out in a similar fashion to victoria gardens, but smaller. it's all outdoors, and you can drive through most of it with metered parking right in front of the shops. there's also free parking lots nearby, and we chose to park by the trader joe's so that we could run in for some stuff before heading home. and, of course, there are fountains for the kids to play in. even though it was butt ass cold, there were lots of kids running through and playing in the water. brrrrrrrr. and the other fountain was cool - the water squirted out and danced across to the other side. kinda reminded me of the dancing fountains at epcot center, in orlando.

i noticed that they also had a lot of the same shops as the VG, although there's an H&M here, as well as a lululemon athletica and a handful of what looks like small, locally owned boutique-y type shops. the teen and i browsed in H&M, where we scooped up a handful of cheap tanks and tees, and stopped at limited too. as she looked at their selection of jonas brothers merchandise, the bean tried on some sunglasses.

of course, we paid homage to the gymboree gods, but i managed to resist the urge to buy stuff for the bean. and the silly teen found this pink leopard-print jacket that she had to try on.

we stopped in at the sanrio store, too, where we stopped to look at everything, were tempted by the display of sparkly tarina taratino jewelry, entertained the employees with our antics, and picked out fun hello kitty candy to take home.

and then we could wait no more. because a couple of doors down was this:

today, there was no sharing. oh, no. today, we each got our own cups, liberally sprinkled with our favorite toppings. and shhhhhh - don't tell the hub, but i gave the bean her first taste of fro-yo, and she loved it. hee!

as much as i've come to love the cool, creamy, refreshing taste of the original flavor yogurt, i think i'd be equally happy if they just filled my cup with the little bits of mochi for me to munch on. anyone know where i can just buy a bag of the stuff somewhere? i'll be your best friend.

we walked through the entire center (which isn't much, really), and then did some grocery-ing at trader joe's before heading home.

i wonder where we'll go today after school. ;)

afternoon in the gardens

victoria gardens, that is. heh.

the teen needed to pick up her textbooks from her dad's house to turn in this week. so since yesterday was minimum day, we headed out to the IE to scoop them up, have some lunch, and do a little shopping. my favorite kind of day!

we parked in the structure, and as i eyed the clutter and mess and general crustiness of my car, i decided to spring for the stupidly expensive car wash. we popped the bean in her stroller, tossed everything else in the trunk, and headed out to get our shop on.

i wanted to take pictures of all the random old-school signs around the center, so i finally 'fessed up and told her about the blog. i thought she might have asked to read it, and i was bracing for it, but i keep forgetting that my life isn't interesting enough for her to check it out. haha! besides, it's not like she's living it right along with me, for the most part.

it was such a lovely day - the sun was out, there was a slight breeze, and it wasn't too hot (yet). the perfect day for strolling around an outdoor mall in rancho cucamonga. and as we walked and talked, i snapped pictures of all those OG signs we passed:

there's a pinkberry at the VG, and it's the one i had my first taste of their famous sour fro-yo at. as we passed by, the teen said "can we have some, mom? please? i read that nick jonas LOVES pinkberry. that means i love pinkberry, too. like, if i ever get to go out on a date with him, that's where we're going. so i need to like it. it's gonna be, like, my new favorite place."

oy. that first taste we shared months ago hadn't impressed either of us. not that we didn't like it, but it sure wasn't mind-blowing for us like it was for a lot of other folks. but we were there, she wanted some, and i told her we'd go back after we had some lunch.

so we headed into the food court for some grub - well, at least i did. i was hungry, the bean was hungry, the teen was...not. she's had some tummy troubles lately, and so instead she grabbed a booth with the bean as i made my way over to great khan's for some mongolian bbq. delish. and as i let it cool off, i took out a jar of organic pureed carrots and an itty-bitty plastic spoon and gave the bean some lunch.

i gave the beard papa's shop a final, wistful glance as we left in search of a restroom to change the bean's diaper. cream puffs looked and smelled so good, but i resisted the temptation. aren't you proud of me?

on our way to the restroom, we came across a cute little play area. the bean is a little too small for the slides and swings and things there, but the colorful, gurgling fountain beckoned. she patted her hands and splashed in the water, and i let her have some fun while the teen squealed "ack! it's WET, mom!" well, duh, my dear. it's a water fountain!

i was pleased to find that there were family restroom/lounges available. inside, there was a couch, changing table, and separate toilet and nursing rooms. sweet! we used the changing table while the teen happily sat down with her phone to send out some text messages. the nursing room was pretty small, but i wasn't complaining.

and as i shut the door, got settled, and started to feed the bean, i was a little grossed out to see this just inside the door.

ick. oh, well. it was still nice to have a private area to take care o'bidness.

our last stop was urban outfitters, where i was amused to find these:

dudes, JORDACHE jeans. i wore that shit in the 5th grade, in the early 80s! shut up, i know i'm old. the teen said as much as i laughed my ass off at the jeans (which were more expensive than the fabulous joe's jeans i found on the clearance rack at anthropologie - $49.95, folks. yes, that's right. i'm such a bargain shopper).

on our way back to the parking garage, we came across the little train ride that takes kids around the center courtyard. the "choo-choo-monga express." hahahaha! i can't wait till the bean's old enough to ride it. the teen can't, either - she's so going to take her as soon as she can.

soooo, $35 plus tip later, we piled into our very clean car and made our way out of the structure. yup. i knew it was overpriced, but whatever - the car was filthy, and it was there. i'm not the only sucker in town - there were several other cars being worked on. and the teen and i had to suppress our giggles as the guys yelled out "CAR WASH!!" to every vehicle that passed by. i guess you had to be there.

before we got too far away, i remembered that we'd never gone back for frozen yogurt at pinkberry. i asked her if she wanted me to turn around, and she said "weeeelllll...it's okay. we don't have to" - which is her way of saying "i really want to, but i don't want to make you turn around because it's a pain in the butt."

so of course, i swung wide and to the right, and we found ourselves in a new-ish residential area that i was not familiar with. luckily, the navi was. a left turn here, a right turn there, and magically we were right back where we came from. hello, pinkberry!

i went in and got us a small size of the original flavor to share, with mochi and cap'n crunch. i brought it out to the car and handed it to her, and she wrinkled her nose and said "did you have them put marshmallows on it??" i laughed and told her it was mochi, and that it was yummy and she should give it a try.

she popped a piece in her mouth, chewed, and damn near gagged. bwahahahahaha! it was so funny, and she scrambled to jam a spoonful of yogurt in there to "get rid of that yucky, nasty taste." i was like, come on! it's just chewy, sweet goodness that doesn't really taste like anything. but she thought it was disgusting, so hey - more for me!

and i hate to admit it, but the second time was the charm for me. we mowed right through that cup and wished we'd had more. damn. all of a sudden, i'm a fucking pinkberry fan. ha! oh, well.

okay, let's see.

camera always available? check.
abercrombie/hollister attire (yes, at my age, shut up)? check.
big ol', obnoxious LV monogram tote? check.
near-constant craving for pinkberry? check.

yup, i think i'm asian!