runnin' for the river

sunday morning saw me and the bean up bright and early to take part in a fun run benefiting the cleanup and revitalization of the l.a. river.  i was signed up for the 5K, with the bean set to run the free kids' 1K with mini cee.  after dropping off the bean with lilcee (since the kids' run didn't start until an hour after the 5K), i headed out to los feliz.

parking was a bitch.  i ended up finding a spot on a sidestreet a couple of blocks away, and made sure to take pictures of the street and a screenshot of my exact location on the map.  i'm terrible with directions, so i have to make it as easy as possible for myself.

this run also marked the debut of my awesome new team superhero singlet:

with only about ten minutes till the beginning of the run, i followed the crowds to the start line - which was about half a mile away.

can you see me?  right in the middle, fussing with my phone - as usual.

it was a pretty easy course, with the first bit on a lovely downhill.  before i knew it, i was here:

the lovely l.a. river.  also known as where the big race took place in "grease."

it's decorated with lots of ...colorful urban artwork.

these guys were placed about halfway down, but you could hear them throughout the whole 3.1 mile course.

this is always a welcome sight when i'm on a 5K.

but first, i had to cross this bridge.

too bad this one is so blurry - but you can still tell it's me.

there are some pretty solid poles placed at the end of the bridge, so as you approach them you see this:

yay for the finish!

i made my way out of the river area and back up to meet up with the bean, who was pretty easy to spot as she chased bubbles with mini cee.

lilcee had picked up the girls' bibs, so we pinned them on and headed over to join the others who were doing some warm-up stretching.

just before the start.

as soon as she got the green light, this kid took OFF.  i was still pooped from my own run and had trouble keeping up.

i tweeted this one to asics and told them i'd found their newest spokesperson.

like the 5K, the kids got to run over the bridge for the big finish.

and then she was done.

before heading up to claim their finisher's medals, the girls decided to head down to the river to check it out.  you can see how thrilled she was when i whipped out the phone to take a picture.

then she was off like a shot again, sprinting up the hill and out towards the "other" finish line.

mini cee was a little less than pleased to be left behind, but perked up as she heard the cheers at the finish line and spotted her medal waiting for her.

we capped off the morning with breakfast at nearby porto's bakery.  good times, good times indeed.

practicing to be brave

at the new dance school i found after leaving the craziness of the last one, the bean has been improving in a huge way.  like, this instructor actually teaches them the positions!  and uses proper terminology for all of the steps!  it's amazing and we're pretty happy there.

they're gearing up for a big recital next month, and the theme for their routine is the movie "brave."  i love this, because i really liked that movie and think that merida is adorable.  costumes arrived recently, and we were invited to participate in a local "celebration of the arts" showcase.  it wasn't mandatory, so not everyone was there, but it was kind of cool to get a bonus dress rehearsal to see how things were going.

this kid, man.  such a ham.

this seems to be her new favorite pose.  oy vey.

"mommy, look, it's like i'm shooting a bow and arrow!"

with one of her BFFs.

and another.

the actual performance went really quickly, and she was so excited and proud to go up there and do the dance.  we're definitely not missing class between now and showtime, though.  although i was stuck sitting in the back, i could tell which one was my kid...she was the one who was always a beat behind.  muahahahahahahaha.  definitely my kid.

she wears your granddad's clothes. she looks incredible.

for my 1,700th post i feel compelled to share something awesome.  i've watched this (both live and in this clip) countless times, and it never fails to make me laugh.

i give you - dramatic pause - the bean's version of "thrift shop."


if she had a mic, it would totally have been dropped on the floor by now.
thank you, g'night!

"is this LIVE on the east coast?"

so, remember the karaoke/american idol viewing party i got to attend a while back?  well, it led to something even better:

yup, my new friend katelin came through and fedexed me those tickets just in time to head down to cbs studios to watch a live taping of american idol.  the teen was pretty excited too, although she admittedly isn't a huge fan of the show.  we've watched it together on and off over the years, and hey - it only took till season 12 for me to worm my way into the show.

because the show is aired live for our friends on the other coast, we had to have our asses firmly planted into our seats by 4:30 in the afternoon.  as soon as the hub got home to hang out with the bean, we were out the door.  on our way to hollywood, we made two quick pitstops - one for food and another so that i could make this:

the biggest bummer was that cameras and cell phones aren't allowed into the studio.  you have NO idea how much this was killing me.  well, actually...yeah, you probably do.  anyway, we parked at the grove as instructed and walked the short distance around the corner to cbs television city (collecting some free shampoo samples along the way from a demo going on at the grove that afternoon).  we stood in a fairly long line in the hot sun for awhile and then were finally granted access into the cool, dark studio.

when you see the show on tv, that studio looks ginormous, doesn't it?  but in real life...not so much.  the stage does take up a majority of the room, and then you have the famous table for the four judges, and then a relatively small audience area.  i'm not the greatest judge of numbers here, but there were maybe 200 seats in there?  pretty awesome, and provided a fantastic view regardless of where you were assigned.  as for us, we were off to the right side and probably about 10 rows from the bottom.  we were a couple of happy campers.

the warm-up dude was cheesy and silly, which is what you'd expect from a warm-up dude.  he brought people up on stage to do beyonce's "single ladies" dance and rewarded the winner with certificates for sandwiches from jersey mike's.  he attempted to dance along, which was kinda uncomfortable to watch, and cracked silly jokes and got the crowd all riled up.  basically, he did his job.

we were pretty amused to note that most of the folks seated around us were rather, uh, elderly.  like, when the first performer was doing her thang down on the stage i looked over and the man across the aisle from me was hunched over and taking a serious siesta.  it was comical.  and just before we went on the air, the teen and i watched another older gentleman behind us wave down one of the production assistants and whisper very loudly "is this live on the east coast?"  heh.  as for recognizable folks in the audience, we had babyface, mary murphy from "so you think you can dance," harry connick jr., haley rhinehart from AI season 10, and mariah carey's mama.

it was also interesting to note that the friends/family members for each contestant are basically shuffled in and out of the same seats when their loved one is on.  there's a camera focused on them during the entire performance, and then they're moved somewhere else so that the next group can sit and watch their person.

as for my sign?  well, it was rather glow-in-the-dark.  and pretty darn sparkly, if i do say so myself.  but i was a little shy about holding it up - mostly because i didn't want to block the view of anyone who was unfortunate enough to be seated behind me.  i'm considerate, yo.  i really really wanted some sort of acknowledgment from my lovah seacrest, but it was not to be.  however, when the teen and i watched the show on the DVR the next day, i was rather gratified to see this:

YES.

disclaimer:  “I attended this event as a guest of AT&T, and was in no way compensated. All opinions are my own.

this i prom-ise you

what's the most important night of your high school years, aside from graduation?

prom!

i still can't believe that my firstborn has now experienced this oh-so-important rite of passage.  and looked far more fabulous than i ever have.  we'd shopped early for her dress and found it on the first try, thanks to a tip from lilcee.  she had all of her beauty appointments lined up and all of her accessories purchased way in advance, and even found herself taking charge of coordinating the party bus for their group of 36.

you want details?  i got details!

corset back and gorgeous hair.

sparkly shoes and holographic nail polished toes.

lush eyelash extensions, with a few pink highlights to match her dress.

earrings courtesy of stella & dot.

put it all together, and you get this phenomenal promtastic package:

cousin seven showed up to see her off and get a few pictures.

the bean was oh, so proud of her beautiful sister.

she's got mad love for the teen's friend, meow.

the teen's prom date was meow's brother.

corsage!

with 36 excited seniors, plus parents and other various family members armed with everything from phone cameras to full-on professional DSLRs, there was a whole lot of picture taking.  the bean entertained herself as best she could.

my babies!

the group gathered in the backyard for more photos.

back out front, someone had already grown weary of their high heels.

and i couldn't help but laugh at this.

at last, the bus arrived.

the bean and the hub had disappeared by then, but the car was still there.  this was explained the moment the bus doors opened:

before they could board the bus, each person had to sign a waiver that basically held them to a "no alcohol or drugs" promise.  and then there was a little snafu with the sound system as the cable to connect the iPod with the party playlist was on the fritz.  but the problem ironed itself out, and the group was finally on its way.  the bean looked on sadly as the bus pulled away and headed off to the high school, where the professional photos were being taken.

no worries, little girl.  it'll be your turn soon enough.

pinktastic cookies

what do you get when you mix a box of cake mix, cool whip and an egg?

cookies!

i found this really, really odd.  and because of that, you know i had to give it a shot.  i was looking for something easy to make, and pinterest almost never lets me down.  i'd pinned this recipe not too long ago, and after picking up a box of pink lemonade-flavored cake mix, i got to work.

although everyone else seemed to like them, i'm not 100% satisfied.  they have a fun, light, fluffy flavor that i did like, but i think i may have pulled them out of the oven a little too soon.  so i'll file the recipe away and pull it out again when i need something quick to satisfy a sweet tooth.

besides, i'm thinking it would be pretty delicious with different cake mix flavors - chocolate, red velvet, strawberry.  the possibilities are endless!

five minutes = freaking forEVER

ever done a wall sit?  you know, where you lean up against a wall and then squat down as if you're sitting down...except that there's no chair?

up until this month, i totally struggled with holding that position for anything longer than - oh, maybe 20 seconds or so.  and then my friend dailygluttony shared a photo of something interesting:

now, i didn't actually see this until well into april.  i ended up jumping into it on april 9th, which as you can see from this chart meant that i had to hold myself up for a minute and a half right off the bat.  i was pretty nervous about it until i realized a couple of things:  1.  that's really not a long time, and 2. i'd gotten a lot stronger with the running and jillian michaels workout videos.  when i thought about it, i hadn't actually done a wall sit in forever.

for march, the challenge had been this:

i had wanted to take part in this one too, but had forgotten all about it.  and when i compared the two charts, i noticed that the times and dates matched perfectly.  and so after i did my first wall sit, i decided to throw in the plank, too.  about 30 seconds into that first day, i came to the sad realization that my upper body and core are most definitely not as strong as my legs are.  the planks KILLED me.

DG and i (and a couple of other friends, too) checked in with each other periodically over the last month, commiserating over the difficulty of adding yet another ten seconds to each day.  i tried to rope the hub into joining me too, and he did it a few times before deciding it was way more fun to cheer me on as i panted and grunted my way through each night's session.  going off of DG's tip to watch youtube videos on my phone, i spent my month viewing all sorts of different nail art and hairstyle tutorials.  worked like a charm - i was fully entertained and learned a few fun things along the way.

last night, not long after DG triumphantly posted that her wall sit challenge was complete, i tackled mine.  i'm quite proud of myself for being able to say that I DID IT!

but today starts a new month.  what's the new challenge, you ask?  well, after checking in with DG, she pointed the way:

holy hell.  kill me now.  although i never thought i could do the plank or wall sit for five minutes straight, so i suppose the v-sit is possible too.

because hello, bathing suit season is coming!