i spent the night with JT

i got mad love for JT.  even though he went off and married that jessica biel chick last year.  it's okay, justin.  i'm married too.

and so when the "legends of the summer" tour was announced earlier this year, i'm thinking that the squealing you heard was probably coming from my house.  well, and from my friends lilcee,  dailygluttony, and kelley too.  the email chain between us discussing our plan of attack for securing tickets to the show at the rose bowl was fast and furious (ooh, paul walker).  this was in february-ish, and july seriously couldn't come fast enough.

because dailygluttony decided to upgrade her seats along with a friend of hers, i managed to snap up her ticket in our group for the teen.  sadly, kelley had to back out for some little reason like - oh, i don't know - moving out of her house.  boo.

after dropping off the bean with mr. lilcee and mini cee, the teen and i met up with the rest of the group for dinner at an old favorite spot - la grande orange cafe.  don't ask me why she ducked out of the photo like that.  she's weird sometimes.

because lilcee lives just a few blocks away from the rose bowl, she'd arranged to have us park our cars at her place.  just down the street, folks were cashing in on their asphalt:

we joined the crowds of people strolling down towards the stadium. traffic was crazy, and as we got closer the parking fees were too.  i mean, really?  $80 for a spot?  good gracious.

it was pretty warm that afternoon.  add to that the walk and the excitement of what was coming made for quite a sweaty wan.  didn't dampen our spirits a bit, though.

merchandise!

the last time i'd been to the rose bowl (for anything but a run around its perimeter, anyway) was at least a decade ago - funny enough, it was also to see JT.  well, and the rest of n*sync.  i'd taken the teen to two shows on the "no strings attached" tour way back when, and while i had vivid memories of that night, she...didn't.  sad.  anyway, our seats weren't much better now than they'd been back then.  and i'm pretty sure most of l.a. was here that night.

testing out the zoom on my little point-and-shoot.

meanwhile, mr. lilcee and the girls had apparently found mr. dailygluttony and mini DG at the movies.  how cute - a GTG of their own.

while our seats were facing the sun, it went down quickly.  i don't think we were sitting there for more than a few minutes before sunset, which was a big relief to sweaty ass me.  it was fun hanging out, doing some peoplewatching, and chair dancing to the groovy tunes spun by the DJ down on the floor.  and then at last, it was showtime.

my shots are still pretty shitty.  most of them are blurry as all hell, and JT was as big as an ant from our vantage point.  no worries - we could still see him via the giant screens.  oh, and jay z was a'ight too.

all too soon, it was over.  the set list we'd found online was pretty accurate - we were treated to about 25 or so songs.

bye bye (bye), justin.  thanks for a lovely evening.

fix-ing my wardrobe

after resisting it for a long time, i finally gave in to my curiosity and signed up for stitch fix.

what's that, you say?  you don't know what that is?  well, it's one of those super fun subscription boxes - like birchbox or the goodies co.,  where they send you a package of products tailored to your preferences once a month.  except that instead of makeup samples or snacks, stitch fix sends you five pieces for your wardrobe.  you get three days to try it all on and decide whether or not to keep any of it, and if you choose to buy all five items, you get a 25% discount.  there's a $20 charge for each shipment, which gets applied to any purchase you make from that delivery, and you use the enclosed prepaid postage envelope to return the things you don't want.  so yeah, it can be a risk if you end up not liking anything.  but the questionnaire you fill out when you sign up is pretty extensive, and i'm sure it helps the stylists narrow down what kinds of things to send that'll be appealing to each recipient.

we're all familiar with how terrible i am at dressing and accessorizing myself.  i mean, i got slightly better when i started selling stella & dot, but still - i suck at picking up nice things to wear and putting them together to make a cute ensemble.  i suppose when one is a SAHM who shops at places like target and old navy on the regular, fashion isn't exactly one's forte, ya dig?  not that there aren't stylish things to be had from those places.  i'm just not good at it, is what i'm getting at.

my first shipment was okay.  i was pretty excited to crack it open when it arrived.  i really hoped alexandra got my shit right.

the first piece was a definite no.  i'm not into prints like this.

no matter how hard i try, i just never look good in button-down shirts like this.  plus this shade of blue isn't my favorite, so this was a dud too.

it got a little better with the next piece i pulled out.  i really liked the bright, happy color and these were super soft with a nice stretch to them, so i was sad to try them on and find that they just didn't do good things for my thighs.  it was just...bad.  and so into the return envelope these went too.

the last two pieces were winners, though.  these are versatile, comfortable, cute tops that i'll be able to mix and match to create several different looks.  yay!

when you've figured out what you want to do with the shipment, you jump onto the computer and review it.  there are questions to answer (how was the fit?  did you like the style?  keep, yes/no?) and a space to provide comments and feedback for each item.  then you pay for the items you want (less the $20 styling fee), mail back the ones you don't, and schedule your next "fix."

it seemed like forever until i got the email that told me my next shipment was on its way.  i was really excited to see what they'd send this time, and took my time opening the box so as to make it last longer.  yes, i am a dork.  this is not news.

the first thing i saw reminded me that i needed to go in and adjust my style profile to remove jewelry from my preferred items.  with my stella & dot stuff, i really don't need any more to add to my collection.  this necklace was cute, but not something i liked enough to keep.

clearly, the stitch fix people know that mint green is one of my favorite colors.  this cardigan was the third item in that shade they'd sent me.  and it's such a basic piece that taking a pass was an easy call to make.

another royal blue top - although i actually liked this one.  with the laser-cut accents and ruffles at the bottom and back, it was flattering and comfortable.  for $68, though...pass.

wrap dresses are classic.  i have a couple that i've worn quite a few times.  this one was really pretty on, and i liked the red and beige color combo.  but i really don't have anywhere to wear it, and it carried a $128 price tag.  that's a negative, ghostrider.

have i mentioned how much of a sucker i am for stripes and polka dots?  i was looking in my closet the other day and realized that most of my wardrobe consists of tops and dresses and skirts in those patterns.  and so this ended up being the one item i kept from this month's fix.  it'll transition nicely from summer to fall and winter, and can be easily dressed up or down.  winning!

i can't wait to see what comes next month.  tell me though, do you care enough for me to share what i get in the boxes?  let a sister know.  i sure don't want to bore you more than i already do.

jumpy jump jumpjumpjump

the bean spent all year telling me how she didn't want summer to come because she didn't want to go to swim lessons.  i'm guessing she was still traumatized from last year's memory of standing at the edge of the diving board, watching the lifeguard come towards her and knowing he was gonna pick her up and toss her little ass in.  heh.

of course, when it finally became time to head to the high school for those lessons, it was butt ass hot and she was more than ready to jump into the cool, refreshing water.  she hadn't managed to advance to the next level at the end of last year's season, so the beginning class was treated to this little ball o'sass.

my ongoing concern with swim lessons is that with no pool at home, she doesn't get to practice her skills outside of that daily half-hour lesson.  and we'd missed the first couple of sessions, so she was only going to get to take four weeks' worth of classes this year.  better than nothing, i suppose.

and she totally proved herself wrong - she kicked ass during that two week period.  i'm thinking that all that confidence she gained during her year of transitional kindergarten also extended to things she'd been afraid of before.  plus, i noticed a lot of improvement in her gymnastics classes over the last year.  it's pretty amazing how far she's come since last summer.  in fact, at the end of the first session, she proudly brought home a certificate that showed that she'd mastered the skills at the beginner's level and was ready for the advanced class.  woohoo!

she had a great time with the new class, learning all sorts of skills and far surpassing her mother's swimming capabilities.  the last day of class was "friday fun day," during which they were allowed to bring a water toy and the parents were finally able to go in and sit on the bleachers instead of crowding around outside on folding chairs.

the kids are taken to the far end of the pool for this final class, tiptoeing to the end of the diving board and (hopefully) jumping off and surfacing next to their teacher.  i'd not been able to watch her do this at the end of the first session, so i was extra excited to see what she could do now.

as if this weren't badass enough, when she came up to the surface she pushed off of her teacher and swam using overhand strokes to the end of the pool.  WUT.

instead of sitting at the shallow end of the pool after that first dive, she went back again and again.  seriously, i thought i was going to explode with pride.

wanna see some live action?

she may not have passed the advanced level this time, but i have high hopes for next year.

cookie week

when it rains, it pours.  it seems like i go through long stretches of time without touching a frosting bag, and then all of a sudden i have requests for a plethora of cookies all at once (not that i'm complaining about that).  last week was one of those times.

i received an e-mail from a longtime blog reader who i hadn't met before.  this is always so cool for me - i've been blogging for almost eight years (!!!), and it's fun to hear from people who've been following me over the years.  anyway, she was throwing a birthday party for one of her boys - a minion-themed bash.  FUN!

after poring through my stash, i ended up choosing one of my round cutters and giving it a little squeeze to create the perfect minion shape.  decorating these little guys was really fun, with a little help from one of the bean's happy meal toys:

then my twirlie friend ijack, who i was so excited to finally meet in person a couple of weeks ago, hit me up to do some treats for her daughter's birthday party.  "farm animals, please" she said, and after scouring the google for ideas, i ended up shipping out two dozen of these.

i loved these so much, i think i may repeat them for my submission to this year's l.a. county fair culinary competition.  although i have to give them six cookies.  i've got to come up with two more farm animals for my entry.  hmmmmm.

lastly, my dear friend mommybelle asked me if i could help her out with LFM's birthday party.  the theme?  ninja turtles.  and for the favors, she was making mini pizza boxes.  one guess as to what she wanted me to make...

now, making pizzas sounds easy enough.  right?  except that for some reason, it just...wasn't.  i started out with basic round cookies and gave them a thick-ish red outline for the "sauce." then i filled them in with frosting that i gave a slightly off-white tint to.  i don't know why, but straight white just didn't seem quite right.  anyway, if i were trying to make plain cheese pizzas, i'd have been screwed:

after learning that LFM's favorite pizza toppings are pepperoni and olives, i mixed up some black frosting and gave it a shot.

ugh.  SO not pizza-ish, right?  when i polled my friends via twitter, the monkey said it looked like "measles and mouse droppings."  yeah, not exactly the look i was going for.  and so after a bit of discussion with the teen (who always ends up stuck helping me out of situations like this), i decided that a little green was what i needed.

i actually liked how this looked, but when i showed the hub, he said "you need lines to make them into slices."  so that's what i did.

personally, i liked them before the "slicing."  but when i sent mommybelle this photo, she was super stoked.  thank god.

after all, the customer is always right.  right?

a visit from the toof fairy

one of the bean's bottom teeth has been loose for quite some time now.  she's been working on it and it's been reeeeeeeally wiggly, but it was definitely taking its sweet time coming out.  and then the other morning she came up to me and said "mommy, it feels like there's something sharp in my mouf."

yes, she still pronounces words that end in "th" like that.  it cracks me up.  i know i should correct her, but it's so cute and she'll grow out of it soon enough.  shut up.

so anyway, she opened wide and showed me what she was referring to inside her mouth.  and sure enough, new teeth were making their way out into the world.  i explained what was happening to her and encouraged her to work on wiggling that tooth out so that it could make way for her grown-up one.

i shit you not, it was maybe an hour later as we were just kicking back watching yet another episode of "my little pony" (kill me) when she sat up and exclaimed "MOMMY!  my toof just came out!"

immediately, i reached for a tissue with one hand and my phone with the other.

she was so incredibly proud and excited and triumphant and elated.  i can't tell you how many times she breathed "i can't believe i finally lost my first tooooooof" that afternoon and evening.  it was really cute.

as the day went on, i came to the conclusion that she absolutely had to have a tooth fairy pillow.  you know, something with a little pocket to put the tooth in.  after all, that thing is tiny.  it'd take some serious stealth moves on the tooth fairy's part to find it under her pillow without waking her up.  ain't nobody got time for that.

a quick search on pinterest turned up all sorts of ideas, but one in particular caught my eye.  the bean and i only recently discovered the awesomeness of the minions from "despicable me," and although that pin led to an etsy store to purchase the premade pillow, i knew i could figure it out easily.

my fabric stash is crazy and out of control, but it really pays off in times like this.  i had about two hours until bedtime to get this thing done, and i got right to work.  google gave me the perfect tooth outline to use as a pattern, and because i seem to enjoy making things more complicated for myself, i decided that this minion needed to be wearing blue like his movie counterparts.

after a lot of cutting, sewing, sweating, and stuffing, i was pretty pleased with the results.

the bean thought it was great.  although she saw something i'd missed:  "mommy, where's his smile?"  bah!

i sure as hell wasn't about to take it apart again to sew on a mouth (not to mention, i didn't really leave much room for one), so i busted out a sharpie and took care of business.  you can't see it too well here, but it worked well enough to pass the bean's inspection.

from my seemingly endless stockpile of...stuff, i found a little box to put the tooth in:

...except that the little pocket i sewed on the back of the pillow was too small.  poop.

no worries.  this worked just fine:

my friend nanette clued me in to another pinterest-y gimmick for times like this (thanks for that, yo).

i mean, come ON.  it's the tooth fairy - she can't just leave any old plain boring money behind.  of COURSE it has to be sparkly.

the next morning, i got up early for a quick run.  except that i underestimated my kid's excitement over seeing what the tooth fairy would leave her.  when i got back, she was already up and had found her surprises.

oh, and don't bother to cyber-smack me for the high price of that tooth.  i've already gotten twitter-bitchslapped quite a few times over.  but come on - it was the first one!  subsequent losses will be rewarded with sparkly $1s.

so there.