like taking candy from a baby.

our local school district, just like others all across the state (and the country), has been struggling to keep it together. and in an effort to save programs, class sizes, staff, teachers, etc., a group of parents and other concerned local folks got together and formed the FGUS - a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to raise money and keep everything together as much as possible.

i was tapped by mrs. g-town, the wife of a guy i used to work for - they live in the area and have two school-aged daughters - to help with this year's big fundraiser. of course, having the teen at the high school and wanting to be of some help, i told her that i was available to help with whatever they needed. i ended up doing a few little things, like ordering supplies and stuff like that. and then, a couple of days before the event, she called to see if i'd be willing to help man one of the food booths. well, sure, no biggie.

the hub and i arrived at the venue a few minutes early - someone had volunteered to host the party in their ginormous back yard. it was quite the flurry of activity as the committee scrambled to get everything in place.

we checked in and picked up our program and bid number for the live auction.

we moseyed on into the backyard to check out the tables that held all of the items available for the silent auction.

i totally snickered at a few of them. like, an autographed CD from the bieb or a framed photograph signed by taylor swift and stevie nicks with minimum bids of $250? really? i murmured to the hub "now, if that was the jonas brothers i'd consider it, for the teen's birthday." which, by the way, is coming up. my kid is going to be FIFTEEN. i just enrolled her in driver's ed for the summer. [thud]

and then i got to the "we are the world" guitar - which DID have all three brothers' names scrawled on it, along with a whole slew of other folks. minimum bid? $1,000.

another guitar, signed by some cool chicks.

i thought of my friend DTLATruckChaser, who's a beachbody rep, when i spied this offering:

the food booths, manned by a handful of local restaurants who donated their food and services for the evening, were still being set up.

the high school band was all tuned up and started to play background music, right next to the dessert table.

mrs. g-town rounded up a couple of high school boys to help me grab the trays of food from the car that had picked it up from the restaurant and take them to the booth. they were quiet at first, but warmed up as i cracked a few jokes here and there. i wondered if the teen knew these boys, and vice-versa, but i decided not to embarrass her and just kept my mouth shut.

and then i was mortified when mr. g-town came up, put an arm around each of them and gestured in my direction. "hey, guys, you ever met a real live cougar before?" i wanted to slug him, but that's just him - silly and always trying to be funny. i wasn't really offended, but i hoped they didn't take him seriously. oy. good thing i hadn't mentioned the teen by name after all.

i totally cracked up when i found "my" booth. i gave g-town and his mrs. so much shit for assigning me to serve up the asian grub. the hub pointed and laughed at me from a nearby table as he watched me turn on the fake charm and smile for the attendees. "would you like a spring roll? they've got shrimp, lettuce, noodles, a little mint, and pork inside. oh, and don't forget the peanut dipping sauce. ah, and that chili sauce? it'll burn your mouth off, so be careful!" and predictably, everyone assumed that i worked at the restaurant that had provided the eats. at first, i tried to explain that i didn't, that i was just a volunteer at the fundraiser, but after rattling that off a few times i just gave up. "yup, we're right there on glendora avenue, right next to the pet shop."

later, after everyone had eaten their fill, i finally left my post to grab a plate of food for myself. i stopped at "my" booth to make sure the boys (who were told to stay there a little longer) were doing okay, and found them trying to barter a tray of spring rolls for a $20 raffle ticket. heh.

having been outbid on everything we'd signed up for in the silent auction, i figured i could bust out my last $20 bill on a ticket. besides, it was for a $500 cash prize, and you can't win if you don't play, right? i shoved the ticket in my pocket and took my plate to join the hub at our table.

before the live auction began, the auctioneer (who was comically attired in a suit that made him look like a leprechaun) pulled out the winning ticket for the raffle. i was talking to mr. g-town as he started reading the six-digit number aloud, one by one for dramatic effect, and listened with one ear as we chatted.

but then i realized that the numbers were all matching my ticket. all the way to the next-to-last digit.

still carrying on the conversation, i was laughing as the last number was announced and didn't hear it. i went over to the hub, who wasn't paying a lick of attention, and waited for the auctioneer to repeat the number as no one had stepped forward yet. and when he did, my heart started pounding and i handed the ticket to the hub to confirm what i'd heard.

"you won, you won!"

i threw up my hands and cheered for myself, until the hub nudged me again - "uh, you have to go up there to get your prize." duh.

i scampered up to the podium, presented my ticket for him to confirm, and he handed me an envelope as i beamed and made my way back to the table.

look!

we were outbid on everything we raised our number for during the live auction, and i felt a little funny coming home with more money than we'd arrived with. haha! it seemed kind of wrong to take cash home from a school fundraiser, but i did it. hey, they raised a shitload - some dude paid $15,000 for a framed case containing a bunch of signed Dodger baseballs. another paid $5000 for a week in someone's newport beach home. and yet another coughed up $3000 for a trip to napa.

i wanted to spend my surprise winnings on an iPad, but the hub totally guilted me out of it. damn. so now the cash is absolutely burning a hole in my pocket (figuratively, of course - i don't carry $500 on my person), but i should probably just save it. bah!

lastly, the teen has been trying to teach her sister to say stuff (like, she's responsible for the whole "what does snoop dogg say?" to which the bean will respond "yo yo yo!"). last night, as she was getting ready to go to bed, she got her to say this:



it cracks me up that the bean doesn't "do" contractions. the teen tried and tried to get her to say "i'm," but it always came out as "i. am." i love it.

a whole lotta league-in' goin' on

as i approach the end of my provisional year with the junior league, i'm finding that meetings and volunteering opportunities seem to be increasing rather than slowing down. but i've had so much fun meeting the women in the league, working side-by-side and getting to know them on a persona level. i'm happy to be a part of it and am looking forward to doing more activities in the years to come.

last week was the annual "placement fair," during which each committee within the league set up a table to attract prospective members for the upcoming year. it was held at kidspace, a children's museum near the rose bowl in pasadena that the junior league actually helped start about 30 years ago.

it was bright and colorful as you entered from the parking lot and made your way further into the museum. of course, we were there after regular hours, so it was closed to the public.

we were set up outside, on what looked like a little race track for the kids to "drive" cars on. really nice space.

may has just been declared "perinatal depression awareness month" in california. and it all started with an idea suggested by a provisional junior league member somewhere. this committee, called SPAC, is dedicated to supporting legislation in education, health, family support, and domestic violence prevention. i think it's pretty exciting to see that ideas, turned into action, really can come to be. and our SPAC committee was handing out flyers and awareness ribbons to spread the word.

league training & events was next. i chatted with the committee chair, snacked on an empanada, and got all excited when i noticed that i was in one of the photos in her display, taken during the fundraiser at jacob maarse last year.

i stopped just long enough at the "floaters" committee table to say hello and move on. these ladies are senior league members, with at least five years of service and looking for less of a commitment, but still wanting to be part of the league. so, not for me, but one day.

this committee is actually my #1 choice - bodywise. i'd had a great time volunteering at this year's event, and i love the entire concept. plus, i dig event planning, so this would be perfect. are you listening, JLP powers-that-be?

the fundraising events and development committee was still on a high from the annual "chocolate chip ball," held just that past weekend. they'd done a fantastic job, and i was sad to miss it. but since this is my second choice, maybe i'll be "forced" to be there next year. heh.

more committee tables.

i stopped at the cookbook committee's table for a while to chat with my buddy politico, one of my favorite members. we'd had a fun time at her stella & dot party a few weeks ago, and i slipped her a mini-catalog for the new little girls' line, just in case she was interested. she's the chair for the committee, and i made a mental note to buy a copy of the current cookbook.

i'm awful at my own finances, and so i had zero interest in joining this committee. not to mention, they meet during the day, so that's out anyway. but the chair was really sweet, and i liked their banner and decorations, so i took a picture.

done in a day, or "DIAD," was my third choice. i only got the chance to volunteer once with them this year, but it was super fun. and it's nice to go, do our thing in a matter of hours, and be - well, done in a day.

all year long, i thought i'd want to be on this committee. it's totally perfect for me, and something i enjoy and am good at. but when it came time to fill out the form with my committee choices, i decided it was a good time to step outside of my comfort zone and do something different. besides, i can always try for it another year - it's not going anywhere.

when i was all done checking out every table, it was time to grab some grub. and just in time, too, because then the league president picked up the mic and started the official meeting.

i had a great time, and decided that i'd take the teen and the bean back to kidspace sometime soon.

two nights later, i was back in pasadena - this time, at the hilton for an awards ceremony that we'd been asked to help at. and knowing that the JLP was a recipient of an award that evening, i figured it would be good to show up and be seen. here's the announcement in rose magazine - do you see anyone you know?

i arrived right on time, after battling insane traffic all the way. i was put to work immediately, escorting the attendees to their tables.

i was super amused to escort a lady who was wearing the exact same necklace as i was - plus earrings, a ring, and a bracelet. we made a great pair of stella & dot reps (although she wasn't a stylist and had bought her goodies from a friend who is). and yeah, this is just me. i didn't take a picture OF her, duh.

when our job was all done, we were stoked to be shown to a table of our very own - no one assigned to it had checked in, so we got to stay, have dinner, and watch the awards without having to buy a ticket. score!

figures - our award was dead last. i didn't think i'd be able to stick around till it was presented. damn.

of course, i had enough time to enjoy dinner. heh.

we've got our big "kids in the kitchen" event coming up this saturday. if you're local, have or know any 4th-6th graders to bring along, sign up at the JLP website and come on out to a fun event about healthy eating habits and fitness tips. it's free, and promises to be a blast.