getting zumba-fied

the bean and i started our sunday nice and early. as she sat on the potty and we had deep conversations about our plans for the day, she pointed to my freshly pedicured, pretty pink toenails. "i like your toes," she said. this gave me a bright idea - i present to you the bean's very first nail polish:

yes, yes that IS silver glitter added on top of that pepto bismol-y pink i painted her little tootsies with. what of it?

later, i bid her and the hub farewell for a few hours while i headed off to starbucks to meet my buddy kelley. knowing that i was interested in trying a zumba fitness class (and promising not to point and laugh at my lack of dancing skills), she'd invited me to an "all star" gathering of local instructors. it was being held at a nearby middle school's gymnasium, and after grabbing a quick coffee, she hopped in the tahoe and i drove us there.

not knowing what to expect (she'd only taken the class a few times and i'd never been, obvs), we chattered excitedly and anxiously as we followed these arrows to the venue:

there was already quite a line ahead of us, and we could hear lots of squealing and cheering as hordes of hard-core zumba enthusiasts greeted each other and took pictures together. and as we joined the line, even more showed up behind us.

we got to talking to the chick behind us, who was also super excited for the session. she'd been zumba-ing for about three months, and was really friendly, encouraging and enthusiastic. and as we bantered back and forth, we were asked for our tickets and handed a waiver to sign.

the excitement grew as the music began playing - loudly. heh. i swear, i'm such an old fart. but it was effective, based on the escalated squealing that resulted. and then we finally got to enter the gym.

i actually went to this middle school - but not this campus. the grounds of my old school, where i spent 7th and 8th grade, were taken over by a bunch of now-defunct car lots. boo.

kelley and i held on to our pledge to stay in the back of the class, which actually turned out to be a bad move. with the stage not elevated enough for us to see the instructors' feet, we ended up guessing at a lot of the steps. and while i'm fairly coordinated and have a bit more than zero rhythm, i'm not really good with the fluid hip movements of the latin-tinged zumba routines. seriously, i'm a pretty freaking awful dancer.

but we had a blast - laughing at ourselves and jumping around and following along as much as we could, and sweating our asses off. i have no idea how many calories i ended up burning, but i felt good and the two hours actually went by fairly quickly as the instructors took turns up onstage. although we were rather surprised when we learned that the session wasn't just two hours (already a brutal workout for someone who hasn't done any kind of activity in months), but three. yikes. even the ticket said from 11 to 1! oh, well.

we ended up leaving at 1, but we weren't alone. there were a good number of others who were taking off "early" too. i probably could've stayed, and maybe i would've been able to hang in there, but i was secretly relieved when kelley said she had a birthday party to attend and couldn't stay later. and look at how HAWT i was, drenched in my own sweat and hair all askew:

they're actually doing another session at the same place next saturday, and i'm hoping kelley can go. i don't know if i want to attend alone, but i suppose i could - that's how much fun i had. i knew i'd be sore, but it was really a fun way to get a workout in.

plus, it's just fun to say. ZUMBA!

the hits just keep on comin

saturday was the sctyle sample sale in santa monica. i'd had an exhausting friday, which i had off but spent running around like a madwoman:

• started off right with a mani/pedi with the teen, before she had to head to her dad's for the week. gave a local salon a second shot, after a not-so-great visit months ago. thought they'd redeemed themselves as we enjoyed our services - but then the girl doing my manicure looked sideways at me and offered me an eyebrow wax. i declined, since i have an esthetician i like (and am admittedly overdue to see), and she glanced at my brows again and said "you need it." what. the. eff. rude!
• after the teen was picked up, i headed to bed bath & beyond for tablecloths and instead walked out with a jewelry tree - a cute way to display necklaces and bangles and the like.
• on to home goods, where i found some nice white bowls and trays (more display items) and a clear plastic jar i thought i'd fill with ring pops and use in my little girls' jewelry display.
• down to smart & final, to pick up the pops. on the way, traded a zillion texts with the teen, who'd miraculously gotten her dad to okay her going to tennis camp next week. of course, friday was the last day to turn in fees and paperwork. oy.
• realized i had zero checks to pay for camp, so i headed home to drop off the stuff i'd bought and pick up the checkbook.
  
• over to the high school, where i managed to find the athletics office and get her signed up.
• still needing tablecloths, i tried tj maxx, where i found a much cuter jewelry display AND a set of three glass jars for the same price as the one jar at home goods. oy vey.
• burger king, for a quickie whopper to go in my growling belly.
• home again, to grab the bags of crap i now needed to return.
• back to home goods, where i returned the jar.
• and then bed bath & beyond to exchange the jewelry tree for a couple of tablecloths i'd seen and nixed the first time around. gah!

i was able to relax and spend some time at the grandparents' house, where MIL and the bean had spent most of the day. we kicked it with them for a while, had dinner, and eventually made our way home. insane, yes?

and it wasn't even over yet. i had to get up early to gather all my shit for the show, then hop in the shower and get the hub up and ready (he'd volunteered to go with me, a move he was sure to regret later). vendors were allowed to start set-up at 8, and we managed to arrive around 8:45.

we made our way to the loading dock, and got some help unloading the car. i headed down immediately to start working, and the hub went off in search of parking for less than $16.

my wristband identified me as an event vendor.

and this is where we were.

after some scrambling, our table was ready.

and so was everyone else's, as the clock struck ten and folks were allowed to enter.

next to me was this table of USC gear by stadium chic. this was a popular stop, being an SC event and all. apparently, it was being run by jennie garth's assistant and her pals.

on my other side, a table laden down with bikinis and cover-ups.

there was lots of jewelry aside from mine.

 clothing galore.

i briefly considered buying the bean a present from here:

there were handbags, too:

i was amused at this rolleez-like stand, where i politely asked if i could take a picture and ended up taking it not only of the merchandise but the cheerful girls selling them:

this charitable organization was present and accepting donations of gently used business attire:

shoes made from recycled materials:

and other random items.

while the hub took off in search of food, i munched on this delicious little nugget:

he arrived with this bag in hand:

and pulled out some scrumptious boxes that filled the room with the aroma of their yummy contents.

the event was over at 3. we packed up, signed off on the donation form (i'd committed to donating 15% of my sales to the alumni club), and headed out into the gorgeous day.

lots of other folks took advantage, too - the pier was full of hustle and bustle.

okay, i'm going to admit it - as much as i love the stella & dot merchandise and like the way the company is run, i'm getting a bit discouraged. i'm not giving up by any means, but my lackluster sales time after time are starting to get me down. luckily, we've got our big annual conference next month (it's called "hoopla," heh) and hopefully i'll get pumped up all over again. i know lots of other stylists are kicking ass, and yet i can't seem to get my business off the freaking ground. ugh.

i need a cookie.