Dinner at the beach & my big mouth....

Last night I went to dinner with Suz, Laurie and Chris in San Clemente. And true to form I talked way too much, which is something I do on first 'dates'. As I am talking my mind is coaching me thru my anxiety and nerves and I hear this from command central in my brain....'okay you want them to like you right? Then just keep talking! Go on that is it...now make them laugh...good keep going...use your hands more when you talk....tell another funny story...don't stop. KEEP TALKING.Just keep TALKING'. So there I am talking about my childhood in the OC, whether or not my husband reads my blog (he does), renaming Chris's insanely successful Tech placement company 'Geeks-R-Us' (sorry for that) and all the while I am using my hands to gesture wildly like some kind of interpretive dancer on crack. I wish I could say this was worse than 'normal; for me...no it is pretty standard stuff. That is the magic of me. Nuff said. On the way back up the 241 to the land of gracious living I was saying a prayer of thank you to the universe, for giving me the opportunity to meet these people. These are no ordinary people. I meet all of them thru blogging. That is our common thread. And I am simply amazed at all blogging has given to me in 6 months. AMAZED. Answered prayers people.

Laurie was just as funny and articulate in real life as she is on her blog. I was fascinated to learn she is a long time blogger (like YEARS), she grew up on a huge Dairy Farm, is terribly tech challenged (whaaa? no cell phone?) and has been known to herd cows (and children) in heels. Chris was that mega smart, mellow and calm surfer guy you see and think..'that guy is just friggin cool'...and well, he was. And although this was not my first time with Suzanne (we go way back- like months back) I learned a lot about her childhood and motivations for the menagerie of pets in her home. And it touched my heart.

Of course blogging was discussed ad nauseam. Actually I think the table next to us was playing a drinking game- and was doing a shot of tequila every time they heard us say the word 'blog'. They were wasted after about 20 minutes and were asked to leave*. We discussed 'blog direction', topics that are too personal for a personal blog and even how we handle the 'stress' associated with having readers, subscribers and all the rest. I learned, I laughed, I cried...and god knows I TALKED. and TALKED. Forgive me new friends...I promise I get better in time. Okay not necessarily 'better'....but.....well, more tolerable.

(*not really. But could've happened....and no photo yet. I am waiting for Chris or Suz to post the ones they took. Cuz ya know I didn't take one single photo. Yeah I am a hell of a photographer don't you think?)

My first Award! Yippeee!

I won an award people! This is the first blog-award I have won and it means a lot to me. Lit and Laundry gave it to me! In case you are new to this whole thing- there are a few awards that sorta float out in the blogosphere...and are awarded by fellow bloggers. Once you receive you are to select new winners (in this case 7). Generally it means someone thinks your blog is pretty neat.....and well, that is just darn flattering. Okay so here are my 7 folks to pass it on too...so hard to pick. Since I think everyone on my blogroll is worth reading and I just sorta promoted some of my favorites here. But here are 7 more!

Yes, I am fearfully and wonderfully the maid, Shamelessley Sassy, From under the Laundry Pile, One Crazy Chick, Blah Blah Blog, Always Home and Uncool, Lisa Mertins Life Illustrated

If you don't know these blogs- take a peek today. All are entertaining and worth the price of admission! Thanks again Lit and Laundry for this award!

Reasons not to clean out your cabinets

Today I cleaned out the cabinets above my much loved washer and dryer (click here to read about the love affair) and I found TEN different Swiffer products. Swiffer dusting gloves, Swiffer Wet, Swiffer Dry, Swiffer refills etc.....I am chronic repeat buyer I am learning (as seen in my pantry from Noah's Arc)....but seriously? TEN? And the real comedy is that NONE of them are opened. So now I call it the "cabinet of good intentions"......

Bail for my kids....

Okay ...in a bizzare effort to find something on TV last night that was NOT Pokemon...we landed on...wait for it......DOG the Bounty Hunter. After trying to explain the process of court dates, bail, bondsmen and bounty hunters in an AGE appropriate way (yes, impossible I know) we watched as an ex-surfer turned heroine addict was captured. This was followed by another conversation about drugs, rehab and why people are homeless. And I survived all this and was feeling like 'hey this show is actually a pretty good conversation starter' and thinking "I handled all that pretty darn well"...when Beth (Dog's wife) comes on the screen in a gravity defying top, exposing her Triple F breasts for the world (and my sons) to see. And Jack says...'that looks like a butt in front". And all I could do is agree. I mean what Nasa developed bra is this woman wearing? And more importantly where can I get it?....after a few minutes her breasts became so distracting we all decided to change the channel. Back to Pokemon. Which after all this, I was happy to watch. I didn't have to explain one more thing. Lesson learned. Pokemon it is kiddies. You win.

Letter to High School Marcy

ONE of my 20 year high school reunions has come and gone. Read about all those HERE. And I did not attend. But it got me thinking. And I thought I would write a little letter to myself. My high-school self......

Dear High School Marcy-

Hi there….First of all you might wanna lose the perm. Well at least for your school photos…I know, I know you are really into Jennifer Beals from Flashdance and think Sigourney Weaver in Ghostbusters looks great with a full head of curly hair….but trust me it is something you will regret. Also, that super jaunty boy-short hair cut you get right before you start cheerleading in your sophomore year will be another of your fashion mistakes. Even though it shows off your insanely large dangling earrings to their fullest- you still are gonna wish you let your hair grow long and fabulous.

* Okay all those girls who you seem to be obsessed with befriending? You know the ones you think have it all together and are so popular for all the wrong reasons? Don’t waste your time. They are all losers. One actually ends up in jail for a while. And the super hot girls with their perfect hair and perfect makeup you envied who fain illness to get out of PE nearly everyday?….well they end up regretting that, when their hate of exercise catches up with them and they balloon to ginormous status about 15 years later.

* Thank your teachers more- they really are influential and shape your approach to problem solving and feed your growing addiction to being prepared. Don’t change that- it is something that will serve you very well in your business career and motherhood. Oh but stay clear of Mr. Baker….yes, he really was sleeping with JoAnne from your Math class. FOR YEARS.

* As for boys… Tony is really a quality friend and turns out to be a neat adult. He is worth getting to know. But the rest? None of them matter…Oh and don’t go to a party with Mike when your mom makes you because she thinks he is ‘sweet’….he turns out to be a cocaine dealer and you have to bum a ride home from the party. But you do get a triumphant moment when you tell your mom. She never, ever butts in to your dating choices again. And remember to spend a little extra time in the morning when your dad drives you to school on the way to work…you will be grateful you did.

* Oh, no matter how many times people tell you ‘this is the happiest time of your life’…let me inform you..IT IS NOT. You have far more happier parts of your life coming. Lots more. Actually it just keeps getting better and better AFTER you graduate.

* Now get to class. Or Cheer practice. Or Drama rehearsal. …Oh I almost forgot..can you please stay out of the sun? The freckles do not go away when you turn 23 like your mom tells you. They stay forever. Thanks. And remember YOU ROCK. You are already something unique and awesome…..in twenty years your kids will adore you. And that is all you will care about anyway.

* Love, Marcy from the Future

(photo note: my hair was still so large by the time I arrived at the photo studio it was necessary to pull my top down around my shoulders to offset its large-ness. Whooaa...how about that make up? Ready for my close-up! Love this kind of humiliating photo thing? you should really visit We are That Family for a linky event like no other...)

I dream big.....

While doing some internal digging about the whole point of my blog, the point of my career I no longer participate in and the point to my existence in general (beyond being the laundress and chauffeur at Villa Massura) I began to really let myself fantasize about my life- as if I were the one writing it script. Get your mind out of the gutter- not THOSE kind of fantasies! These kind….

* Fantasy #1: I get a book deal for my ADtalk series. This will include a huge signing bonus which will allow me to spend 8 guilt free hours a day to locate vintage ads and write funny copy for them. The book will be a huge success and it will require a re-printing almost immediately. I will be asked to do another. Months later I will be invited to a fabulous cocktail party in Hollywood hills and I will notice MY book on their coffee table. Someone else will notice too- and they will ask me to sign it.

* Fantasy #2: I will be asked to write for a sitcom. This fantasy involves meeting Tina Fey and we have martini’s over lunch and laugh and laugh like old friends. She borrows my sweater, I borrow her red heels- and we hit the town arm in arm that night. The next morning we see each other at the TV studio and we just look at each other and start to giggle…..then we sit down and write the funniest script ever written. We win an Emmy for it.

* Fantasy #3: I am asked interview and photograph Carol Burnett, Steve Martin and Bill Murray. I decide to do all in a single day. I make my way to each of their lovely homes in Beverly Hills, Belaire and Hancock Park. They each greet me with smiles and give the most honest and revealing interviews of their lifetime. Each tells me that I am a very funny person. The photographs are classic and expose their vulnerabilities. Magazines are clamoring for usage rights. Steve sends me a hand written note to express his gratitude and offers an open invitation to his home- because he found me ‘intriguing and bright’.

* Fantasy #4: For no explicable reason I begin to lose weight. The pounds begin falling off of me, although I have not changed my eating habits nor increased my exercise. Weekly I need to purchase clothing in a smaller size just to have something to wear that won’t ‘fall off’ of me. I purchase belts to help hold my pants up. I tuck all my shirts in- because I can. As I am thinning my freckles begin to fade on my porcelain smooth skin, and my hair seems to have a revitalized bounce and shine. As I approach a Size 4 my weight tapers off and I remain this size until the day I die when I am 98 years young. I am buried in a Chanel suit my husband purchased for me prior to our 20th wedding anniversary trip to Paris. It still fits. And of course it still looks great. After all it’s a Chanel silly.

Have you allowed yourself to have a fantasy today? Really? Darling tell me all about it....

If Noah Had a Pantry on the Arc

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Today over at ASK MARCY! (OC Register Advice Blog) I posted this pic along with tips for snack organization (including what is in those white bins). Upon further review of this photo, I noticed my pantry has a lot of duplicates....it looks like the Noah's Arc of pantries......apparently someone needs to take a look at existing inventory before going grocery shopping. I will have to have a word with the maid and cook.....they are always so forgetful.

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My people...my tribe

A Typical (and ACTUAL) conversation between blogger friends when they meet:

Blogger #1: Do you see what was in Holly's Fruit Bowl this morning?

Blogger #2: Who is Holly?

Blogger #1: You don't follow June Clever Nirvana?

Blogger #2: no. Is she good?

Blogger#1: Okay you HAVE to read her...you MUST. Seriously...I don't even know if I can continue to be friends with you in real life if you don't read her. She is....well, hard to explain..but let's just say she refers to herself in the third person and she DRAWS her posts sometimes.

Blogger #2: Oh I get it. I will add her to my reader ASAP.

This sort of conversation continues....for hours if necessary until we have convinced each other to read the exact same people we read..... So it occured to me (was told to do it by Suz) I should really highlight some* of my favorite reads...and my personal synopsis of their sites. Oh I am sure I will get that part wrong- but hey worth a try:

Candid Carrie: She features a field trip which allows us all to break out of our own bloggy circle! (see button on my side bar) and she has lots of great photos on her site- which ya know I love.

Prose and Converse: Spit take worthy comedy....and a little High School Musical love too.

We are THAT family: You know the ones...the ones you say 'Oh THEM again!'. Seriously- feel like your family is crazy? Read her blog and you will feel right at home!

Emphasis Mine: Great writting, great links, great ideas....and becoming a great friend too. Was also the FIRST blog I ever read. Ever....and I still adore it.

Foolery: Oh the comedy. Very smart writing , be ready to giggle..she tells it like no other.

But I read TONS more. I read them religiously. (via a reader) Check out my new Blog Roll to the right. See all those names? I follow ALL of them! And I love every post.....well, except the ones about poopie diapers and Blogher....those I don't love so much...but I read them anyway....these are my people. MY TRIBE.

*it was too too hard to pick who to highlight here. It is random really.

Happy Birthday 1980 style

Its 1980 and its your birthday! You are turning 4...and all you ever wanted is on this page. I am not sure who is the birthday girl/boy here..pretty sure it isn't the Harry Potter glasses girl on the right. I bet it is the smug pretty in pink one. Now in 1980 I would have been 10 (there now you know my age- now be nice and don't rub it in...I know I am OLD, just ask the AARP), but I remember alot of the toys on this page- so some of these were around for a while. I really remember the cupie-looking doll in pink towards the bottom of the ad. It used to bug the heck out of me that I couldn't take her hood off her head. And she was filled like a bean-bag. I think I really loved her- even though my mom says I wasn't much for doll playing at all. But my favorite part of this pic...the camera the mom is holding. Remember those flash bulbs?

Football is my part time job...

Well, I can hardly believe it Internet- but Pop Warner Football training season is upon us. And my baby boy is playing this year even though I did everything but pay him not to. Today he is attending a Tackling Camp (yes, you heard me TACKLE). So I am paying like $500 for my kid to be TACKLED weekly. The practices begin officially August 1st and get this...they are EVERY DAY for 2 hours. Here are a few photos from last season as I was the team photographer and will be again this year to I am afraid. It was flag only-thank god, and he is #23.....can you tell HE LOVES IT? Why oh, why couldn't I have had little pink, glittery, wimpy GIRLS??? (oh I know I am totally sexist with that comment. deal)

Here is to another great season. Hope I survive.

Hope my kid survives too...

Go Bulldogs!