wrapping up JLP year #1

with the ILs off on vacay, that means days off for me, too. yay! and day one began with the bean helping me to make her some scrambled eggs for breakfast.

the wrap-up party for my junior league provisional class was that evening. having been assigned to bring an appetizer (grub was divvied up by committee), i scrambled a little to figure out what to make. i begged amber for the recipe for her yummy bruschetta that she'd brought to book club, because i don't do a lot of apps, and she graciously sent me a link.

later, i realized that the iPad was going to be a fabulous kitchen tool. previously, i'd either printed out online recipes or scribbled down the ingredients and measurements on a piece of scratch paper. now, i don't have to do either one:

fantastic! i got started on my tomatoes, halving, seeding, and dicing.

it took me about an hour to get through all the chopping and mixing, but the kitchen smelled heavenly when i was done.

by then, i'd also thrown together dinner for my family and gotten ready to head out. i'd decided to bust out the new dress i made for myself last week, and although it's not perfect, it's pretty cute (or at least, i think so). i didn't have time to take a picture of myself, but you'll see it in the group pic later.

i'd run out of time to toast the bread, which was kind of a bummer, but whatever. i managed to make it out to pasadena in record time and found a parking space in the lot across the alley from where the party was to be. lucky for me, i ran into smiley, our current provisional chair, and chief, who'd headed our marketing committee for KITK, as i skipped down the stairs. after a quick greeting, they told me to head on over and look for the red balloons. we were meeting in someone's office above colorado boulevard, and it was good to have some kind of a landmark to look for.

i headed up the stairs and found myself on a nice, airy patio - perfect for a small gathering like ours.

inside was a nice, spacious office space.

as i greeted various JLP members, i realized that there might be a solution to my dilemma in that office, and sure enough:

after i was all done toasting my bread, i found a crowd gathering around the espresso martini bar:

and helped myself to one.

there was plenty o'grub, including a pretty fruit arrangement (which i, as usual, admired from afar).

today happens to be our dear smiley's birthday, and we all sang to her as she blushed in embarrassment. and then she was presented with a gift card to nearby gold class cinemas, which she seemed pretty stoked about.

later, as curly arrived with a nice birthday cake complete with candles, we embarrassed her again:

hoping for some feedback to use for next year's provisional committee, there were comment forms to complete. having had a blast and nothing but praise for my experience as a first-year JLP member, i happily completed one and dropped it in.

i managed to gather everyone 'round for a group pic, balanced my camera on top of that box, and set the self-timer.

yay for junior league! yay for a great year! and yay for the fun to come next year, as i serve on the fundraising committee. it's gonna be a blast!

iPad iNsanity

so i have to apologize to my lovely winners from last week's rolleez giveaway. i'm such a slacker, i'm just getting your prizes in today's mail! i suck. sorry, ladies. hopefully the prize itself will make up for my procrastinating.

i've been so busy lately! while i've been "working" my two-week notice (with that in quotes because i've got a major case of short-timer's disease, so i haven't really been making a huge effort, heh), i've been heading over to the new job to start training. the moment i leave the office, i've hopped right onto the freeway and jumped right into 3-hour training sessions. i get paid for training, thankfully, but MAN - i'd forgotten how much it blows to work a full 8-hour day. i've been pooped, and i miss my girls, who i'm used to seeing much more than this! but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. my last day at the old job is next thursday, and as luck would have it, i'd scheduled some days off this week and next due to the ILs going on vacay. since i didn't give myself any time off in between the two jobs aside for a 3-day weekend next week, it's nice to have a break.

i'm also pretty stoked to report that the iPad is up and running, and is quite fabulous. i picked it up last friday evening, which didn't go as smoothly as i'd expected either. stupid bank of america decided that the purchase looked suspicious and decided to decline the transaction. pretty embarrassing, especially since it took several phone calls to different departments to resolve the issue. sheesh. i took it home excitedly, plugged it into the Mac to sync it up with iTunes, and - nothing. a window popped up and informed me that my operating system wasn't up to par. bah! my 2007 mac was running version 10.4.11, and the iPad wanted at least a 10.5. so freaking frustrating. and after a little research, i found that the upgrade would cost me another $170! there was a $29 upgrade available too, but it was meant for those who had already upgraded from the version i had.

the next day, still iPad-less and bummed, i turned to twitter and my twirlies to vent and whine. but i ended up a happy camper, as one of my buddies replied to my bitter tweets with some pretty valuable info. she'd been in a similar situation, did better research than i had, and came to the conclusion that the $29 upgrade would work. whee!

the first chance i got, which wasn't actually till tuesday, i drove my happy ass to best buy and scooped up that software. i backed up my files, stuck the CD in, and about an hour later, i was looking at a whole new operating system running quite smoothly. yay, right?

um, not so fast. i plugged the iPad in again, watched as iPhoto recognized it, and waited for iTunes to follow suit. and again, nothing. i restarted the computer again, tried using my iPhone cord, click, click, click. nada. i googled for help and found that there were lots of others who'd faced same problem, which was slightly comforting. they reported that removing iTunes and re-installing it was the key, and by then i was desperate. so i followed their lead, let the mac do its thing, and this time, when i sent a prayer up and plugged in, it finally worked! i'm even blogging from it right now. total pain in the ass, but it was worth it to have my new toy in my hot little hands at last.

and just in time, too - because in two short days i've got this:

i'm pretty excited, folks. i'm so not ready for it, but i'm looking forward to meeting all of the vendors who've signed up and seeing how this thing goes. amazingly, although this one hasn't even happened yet, folks are already clamoring for another one!

cross your fingers and wish me luck, yo. i'm gonna need it.

i'm on a boat

memorial day monday dawned sunny and warm, so we decided to take a nice drive up to lake arrowhead to have lunch and check things out. getting there was a snap, with no traffic anywhere along the way. look at how gorgeous it was up there:

it was so warm that the bean finally got the chance to rock more of her upcycled fashion.

we'd promised her a boat ride, and we delivered. it was fun to go up there and do something we hadn't done before, despite the fact that we've driven up to arrowhead a zillion times before.

it was a nice cruise around the lake, with our guide pointing out various landmarks and giving us a brief history lesson on the area.

the hub and i are always dreaming of buying a vacation home up there. and a boat, of course. except that we seem to have different ideas of what kind of boat we'd get. i was picturing something chill, like this party barge:

and his vision is more like this:

heh. oh, well.

in the meantime, the bean was having a great time, just relaxing and letting the breeze from the open window blow through her hair. she even let me grab her for a photo op.

these homes are kind of ridiculous, yeah? we're talking 10,000+ square feet, 16-car garages, underground boat parking. some of them are right on the lake, and instead of using regular ol' stairs to get to and from their boat slips, they build a tram. A TRAM. i'm dead serious. and the folks who own these homes don't even come up to the lake all that often! you can tell who's home and who isn't based upon who's flying a flag outside.

lots more lakefront homes, but much more modest ones.

when the ride was over, we decided it was lunch time. and it was another first - we finally tried the waffle house overlooking the lake. of course, with the perfect weather, all of the tables outside were taken. not wanting to wait, we took a table inside to enjoy our meal.

it was pretty dark in there, so i have zero pictures of the grub. just imagine big, fluffy belgian waffles and a club sandwich that looked about a foot tall. yum.

the hub went up to the counter to pay and returned with a little brown paper bag. he took the bean outside, opened the bag, and showed her how to feed the ducks. she had a blast.

so did the ducks.

it was an even easier drive home, since we left early enough to beat the post-holiday traffic. and as we relaxed and got ready for the week, the bean serenaded us:


is it stuck in your head yet? muahahahahahaha.

flyin' high

the bean is starting to do pretty well in her gymnastics class - at least, better than she was when we first started going. she's actually quite shy (which doesn't bode well for her mother's dreams of making her a star), and is typically pretty clingy when we get there. it's so weird, because she's really good at the activities, like tumbling and jumping and climbing - but as soon as we set foot inside the gym, she shuts down and maintains a death grip on one of our hands. oy.

the class got together for a quick group picture, and i was pleased that she actually joined the kids for it:

afterwards, we decided to go somewhere fun for breakfast. we pulled up here:

so we could sit outside, watch the planes take off and land, and eat here:

the bean jumped right into this plane and took a "ride."

we were shown to a table outside, where we had a great view of the airstrip:

it was your typical coffee shop, with plastic everything and friendly waitresses calling out greetings to everyone.

while we waited for our food, the hub took the bean down to the little grassy area, where she watched the planes and played and ran around.

when they returned, she settled into her high chair and put on her scary face.

the grub! i'd gone with - what else? - the bacon-stuffed pancakes.

the bean's kids' meal featured a pancake bigger than her head.

it was a fun place, and i was totally amused to see the server greet the hub with a smile and a hug - apparently, he's been here a few times before. heh. and it turns out that she was actually the owner of the place, with an in-n-out connection - she'd been married to one of the owners, who overdosed on vicodin a decade ago.

guess we know what she did with the life insurance money.