Get Carried Away

Put your best Oprah voice on...

"It's our Favorite Things party!"

I have five really awesome girlfriends from high school. We have known one another since high school, which was over a decade ago. Between the 6 of us, there are 6 husbands, 13 children, and countless hours spent talking about both. We get together regularly to talk, laugh, eat, reminisce, and eat some more. We take overnight trips to reconnect and destress and talk about our kids and husbands and everything under the sun. We laugh. We laugh so hard we snort sometimes. And maybe one of us laughed so hard we peed one time. Anyway, we have WAY too much fun together.

Those five friendships, each person individually and the group as a whole, is one of my very favorite things.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated some exciting life milestones. Debbie was days away from having her first baby (Baby Nixon, who has since joined the crew!), Kristyn was days away from entering a new age bracket- the first of us to cross the threshold into thirty. Rachel had the awesome idea to include something a little different for this shindig- a Favorite Things Party.

We were each to bring 5 of our favorite things under $10- they could each be different, or all be the same. There really weren’t many rules except that you had to really love it, and be willing to give it away. It was like Oprah’s Favorite Things: Dollar Store Series.

After a few chorus rounds of “Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music, we started- one by one laying out the items that bring a special joy to our lives. Each girl took a turn, explained each item and why she loved it, and then we picked numbers to give them away to avoid what would have probably degenerated into a hair-pulling, eyeball-scratching, knock-down fight.

Here’s a list of our favorite things- and us pretending to be a Price Is Right girl with the loot we brought.

Allyson’s Favorite Things: Mickey Mouse Cookie Cutter, Coupons, Coke, Homemade Christmas Table Runner, Diaper Caddy, Danish Delight dessert imported from Utah, and Teacup Roses.
Rachel’s Favorite Things: Arm & Hammer Laundry Detergent, Forever 21 Jewelry, Trader Joe’s Sauces- Red Curry, Arrabiata Pasta Sauce, Masala Sauce, Book- The Help, Sno on the Go and Frappy’s.

Carrie’s Favorite Thing: Nana’s Almond Rocha- each girl got the recipe, a Milk Chocolate Pound Plus Bar from TJ’s and a bag of Almonds.
Kristyn’s Favorite Things: Book- Glimpses, Candle, Notecards from Target, Magazine- Vogue, Forever 21 Jewelry.
Debbie’s Favorite Things she wanted to bring: Arrested Development, Small Flower Bud Vases, Netflix, Coupons at CVS, other...stuff
Debbie’s Favorite Things: Authentic I Heart NY shirt and NY Plates, Flavored Marshmallows from Home Goods, Mini Colander, Recipe Cards, Reusable totes from Home Goods, Stationary Sets, Garage Sale Best Tips (3 pages long!) She is THE best garage sale shopper EVER- can't wait to get my hands on those tips!

Valerie- we missed you and can’t wait to give you what you won, and see your Favorite Things!

Girls: this was beyond fun, and added an awesome element to what is always a fun time together. Thank you for sharing your Favorite Things and your love and friendship. Excited to see what the next few decades bring us!

So many posts to write, pics to download, stories to tell...
but right now
I'm on the laptop tethered to an actual cable (GASP) since our router is broken
my babies are sleeping
I am freshly showered
Project Runway is waiting on the DVR
and I have a date tonight.
More to come.  Promise.

Send him away for 11 days. :)
Seriously.  Not only will you miss him, you'll pine for him.  And you'll find yourself using ridiculous words like "pine."

Mr. Braunalicious has been in Spain for 11 days.  Hence the lack of blogging.  It's been a patchwork of daycare, working, and attempts at continuing to work out and stay sane.  Thank goodness for incredible family who have saved us.
We obviously have known this trip was coming for a long time, but the reality of being without our favorite guy took a while to settle in.  My head swirled with the logistics, but after a good color-coded Excel spreadsheet sesh, the particulars were covered. 
What I didn't expect was the magnitude with which I'd miss him.  I knew who would be where, with whom and when.  But I forgot to make a tab for where my heart would be- with him, over 1,000 miles away.  I didn't know that my heart would physically hurt after a few days.  That I'd stay up until all hours of the night watching the most awful television until I practically had to carry myself to bed because I didn't want to go upstairs without him.  That everything would be different- car rides, bath times, nighttime prayers, breakfast, park trips.  And not just different because I was doing it by myself, but because he wasn't there to share it with.
Life just isn't as fun without him.
Sure, the bathroom sink has been cleaner and his shoes aren't scattered everywhere, but man do I miss him.  It reminds me of our dating days when he lived in LA for college and we would see each other every few weeks. It was an actual physical excitement driving up the 405, knowing that I'd pull up to his house and he'd meet me outside.  I'd stand on the edge of the curb, he'd stand in the gutter to even out our 9" height difference and we'd hug and kiss and forget about everything else in the world for a few minutes.
In four short years of marriage we've already grown pretty comfortable.  There are days that go by when we don't kiss.  Goodbyes are simple and sweet when you know that the other person is coming home and will be there day after day. 
This is a reminder I needed.  He's about an hour away from landing as I write this and the excitement is bubbling up.  We are putting the finishing touches on a "Welcome Home" banner.  I can't wait to hug him and have him HOME tonight.

My intention isn't to make you barf over how much I miss him, but to remind myself after this renewed newness wears off again, as I know it will and probably more quickly than I can imagine.  Check back in a few days for a list of things that are driving me crazy.  And next time I need this reminder, I think I'll be the one flying to Europe :)

Seriously, get her this present for her next birth-mom-valen-aversary day.
Professional Photos of the Kids

I am going to break this down step-by-step for you, and include the little tidbits of info that your wife would include if she knew about your adventure.
You’re welcome.

Step 1: Make this gift a surprise. Not the kind of surprise where you accidentally leave something laying out on the kitchen counter on top of the pan she’s using to make dinner so she “finds out” what’s happening and then she ends up doing the whole thing for you. An actual surprise. And bribe the kids so they don’t give away the surprise. Bribe them with candy, not a toy. That way you don’t have to explain where the toy came from because your wife will wonder why you would buy something else that she will have to put away or repair with super glue.

Step 2: Call Kiddie Kandids (or your local choice for photography) far enough in advance to book an appointment BEFORE the day of celebration. If you work and have to take the kids on a weekend, call even earlier than you think you should. A good rule of thumb- if she’s already started talking about her birthday, you’re probably lagging.

Step 3: Once you have the appointment, devise a way to get the kids to the studio/photographer. My husband had it pretty easy since I work outside the home, but if your wife doesn’t, here are a few suggestions…
-Option 1: Enlist one of her friends to take her out for a movie/pedicure/girls date. Make sure that she’s scheduled for at least twice as long as you estimate you’ll need. When estimating, use “wife time” which means including driving time, at least two trips back inside the house, and an extra 15 minutes for God knows what. You’ll need it.
-Option 2: Offer to take the kids for an afternoon. Tell her you’re going somewhere that the kids go often, so when she asks what they did they can lie easily. This will require coaching the kids and more bribery.
-Option 3: Just straight tell her that you’re taking the kids out to buy her a present. This may be the easiest route, and will also score you extra points as she’ll be blown away that you actually planned something.

Step 4: Dressing the kids can be tricky. She’s going to notice what they’re wearing. Once you’ve booked the appointment, try to pay attention to what she dresses them in over the next few days and copy it. Church clothes are usually a safe bet. If you have absolutely no clue, offer to put the kids to bed and paw through their clothes. Anything free of stains is fair game. Or check the tags in their favorite shirt, find the web site of the clothing maker, see what outfits the kids on the web site are wearing and try to match it as best as possible. If all else fails, enlist a female relative or friend to assist. And don’t forget to brush their hair.

Step 5: Morning of the photo shoot, sneak the outfits that they’re going to wear for the photos out to the car. Then dress them in play clothes. She’ll get suspicious if you say you’re going to the park and your daughter leaves in a frilly dress with matching shoes. And don’t make a rookie mistake- be sure to change their outfits back before they go home.

Step 6: Bring your children’s favorite toys to keep them busy and happy before the pictures start, while each sibling takes a turn, and while you’re picking out the photos. And for God’s sake, if your baby uses a pacifier make sure you have one. Scratch that- have four. Pacifiers have critical need detectors and disappear when you are the most desperate. Bring snacks. And water. And take the kids to the bathroom BEFORE you get started.

Step 7: Get ready to act like a total and complete moron in order to get your kids to smile. Thankfully, there will be no video of you jumping around like a monkey- just a beautiful shot of your two-year-old smiling.

Step 8: After the session, pick out a few pictures and have prints made. Choose regular sized ones, one big one of your favorite picture, and some wallets so she can pass them out and brag about her awesome present (and her awesome husband- score!) Also include a CD of the photos so she can upload them to Facebook and brag some more. These are the little touches that win major brownie points.

Step 9: Bring the kids home. In one piece, preferably. Be sure they’ve completely finished their bribery treat, you’ve wiped their faces, hid all wrappers, and gone over your lie of where you “really” were at least 10 times.

Step 10: Prepare for her to cry when she opens the envelope with the prints inside. Better yet- have your kids decorate the envelope. And best of all, get her another present from you and tell her that the pictures are, “from the kids.” She’ll know the kids didn’t make an appointment, drive to the photo spot, choose prints, and pay by themselves. Then make sure she knows it was you who did all that and not her mom.

Overwhelmed dads? Don’t be. I can guarantee you that your wife will be ecstatic. She may cry. You may get lucky. Your kids will learn how to lie, a skill they will spend the next ten years developing. It’s a win-win situation.

Honey, thank you for one of the best birthday presents ever. I love having babies with you, and I love having pictures of those babies to show off. You are my inspiration- not just for this post, but for life. Thank you.

365 days from today, I will have that same blog title (without the paranthesis)

If there is one thing I can guarantee, a very different person will be writing that post.  A healthier, more centered, better version of myself is living just below this skin.  I can see her, sometimes feel her, and I know that she is just waiting.

29 will be my Onion Year- peeling back the layers of things that I have been waiting for "someday" to do.  Screw that.  It's ON!  Right here, right now.

I have a full-out Flirty and 30 Life Plan written out.  I dusted off my college communications books and wrote a Comm Plan, but instead of a company or product as the client, I'm working for (and on) myself.  I will be sharing with you, piece by piece, objective by objective, tactic by tactic.

To start, my mission statement:

(Off to create my accompanying Excel spreadsheet.)

Flirty and 30.  Get ready, cause here I come.

Here's how I started- surrounded by good friends and an amazing dessert.  Yay!

I'm not attending Blogher this weekend. 
There, I said it. 
Do you know what Blogher is?  It's a great website designed to help bloggers connect to one another, and they have this (reportedly) awesome conference every year.  And this year, it's in San Diego.

Some of my favorite bloggers are going to be there.  I love blogging.  It's right down the freeway.

So why am I not going?

First of all, and I'm embarassed to admit this, I just found out about the conference last week.  And Saturday is my birthday.  And I don't have "business" cards for my blog, which apparently is THE thing to do.

So as I'm ramping up and getting more serious about blogging, I feel super-uber lame for not going.

But I'm not prepared.  So I will read all of the posts talking about the awesome speakers and workshops and learn through creepy stalking osmosis. 

And I will be at Blogher '12.  Prepared.

It's one of the best things about The Walt Disney Company- almost everyone is a fan. And now, you can be an Official Member of the Fan Club with D23.  (The D is for Disney and the 23 is for 1923, the year that Walt Disney arrived in California and started what would become the Walt Disney Company.)

Animation Building with Walt's original office

It was my total and complete honor to attend a Lunch & Learn about D23 at their unoffical "Clubhouse" the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.  It's just as magical as you'd expect- even the parking structure is sparkly- and within minutes of walking toward our lunch destination we turned the corner onto the street set for Brothers and Sisters.  No big deal.  Oh, and that building over there?  The original Animation Studio with Walt Disney's office on the top left.  You know, the norm.

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 Am I hiding my enthusiasm well?  Only because I didn't want to completely Disney dork out.  All hope of saving any of my dignity washed away when we were introduced to Goofy.  Not that Goofy, but THIS Goofy...

... Disneyl Legend Bill Farmer, who's been the voice of Goofy for the last 20+ years.  He is an adorable man who regaled us with the story of coming out to LA with a scad of impressions and a few years doing stand-up and the audition for Goofy was his first.  It was supposed to be a one-time deal, but they loved him so much that he'd now voiced Goofy over 3,000 times, including Goofy Movie and every episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  I wanted to squeeze him until I got a good, "Gawrsh."

You can be a card-carrying, pin-wearing member of the coolest club in CA.  D23 offers two levels of membership, gold and silver.  With the gold membership, you get the quarterly magazine disney twenty-three which is "Disney's version of Town and Country" according to Laura, D23 Special Events Specialist. (Only at Disney could a job title include the word "special" twice!)  It is absolutely beautiful, and opening the cover is like looking through your wedding album without all the pictures of yourself- its that exciting.  Plus, with both the gold and silver, you get access to events exclusively for D23 members, including tours of Walt Disney Studios (and there is no other way to get that!)

As if it couldn't get any cooler, in just over two weeks Disney is hosting the 2nd D23 Expo at the Anahiem Convention Center August 19-21.  It's three days of exclusive, amazing entertainment and information about all things Disney.  Here's what I'm stoked about.
-Meeting Jake and the Neverland Pirates in the Disney Channel Pavilion.  Agirl is going to die.
-Disney Legends Ceremony, honoring 5 of the Disney Princess voices and Regis Philbin
-Ultimate Disney Trivia Tournament
-Lion King 3D Advanced Screening
-D23 Live Auction featuring unique experiences, tours, artwork, props, and one-of-a-kind Disney treasures
-Disney Archives
-Musical performance by Dick Van Dyke & The Vantastix.  Yes, that Dick Van Dyke- the one from Mary Poppins and, umm, some other stuff. :)
Here's the full D23 schedule- try not to pass out when you see all the awesomeness.

 I've bought a membership for me, and my sister, and I'm practically drooling over the D23 Expo.
Join us, won't you?

Even the tea cups are cute

Entering the Archives

Julie Andrew's fake driver's license from Princess Diaries

Apple and Sword from Enchanted

Had a little chat with Minnie and Roy Disney.  They told me to say hi.

The first time I wore them was this day...
Especially when I kick up my heels and see this....