Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

The last week of July is always an exciting week because several of my friends have birthdays and it is also preparation for my birthday in August. Since working from home I have been able to do a weekly catch up with my mentor. This week we decided to meet up on Friday. She shares a birthday with my friend El Momma so I planned on celebrating her birthday on our Friday meet up. On Friday morning, she texted me and asked if I wanted to get my hair done. It was sort of unexpected as I don't normally go out and get my hair done with friends but I agreed. So I met at her house and we drove over to BLO at the W Hotel in Hollywood. I didn't even know that place existed but apparently Gwyneth Paltrow is a backer of this popular updo place. Apparently, my mentor bought a package and used two of her hair do's on our visit. Upon arriving I was given a book of hair do's. It wasn't very big but had some fun options. Most of them were with your hair down but I wa...

When I was in my younger days, I was living in Burbank and I had a couple of roommates in those early LA years. One of those roommates,Rebekah aka Rebe grew up, got married, moved to Houston, Texas and had four kids. She writes a blog and her call name is El Momma, based on her last name...all of her friends call her El Momma and her four kids the Els. It had been 4 years since the last time I had seen her so it was great to see her and all her kids who have grown so much. I love reliving my childhood and it is doubly neat when your kids meet your friend's kids. That is exactly what happened today when Miss P and I met up with El Momma and the Els at Disneyland. We had fun day at the park and Miss P made some new friends. While at Disneyland, I somehow managed to get Miss P on Splash Mountain for the second time in her Disneyland going life. I think the only reason she went on was because the Els were going on and she loves mimicing what other children do. I know she rec...

Another great resource for moms, nannies or people who take care of children and don't want them to be in front of a TV all day are FREE museum days. In Los Angeles all of the major museums offer free days throughout the month which is super helpful in keeping your month interesting and fun. I discovered this in my unemployment days and I added these FREE days to a running Mommy List I have started and distribute to those mommy friends in need. In this month alone I have visited 3 museums: Kidspace, the Gene Autry Museum and the Craft and Folk Museum. We've been to Kidspace a million times. It is one of th best Kid's museums in Los Angeles. It is very hands on and educational. Their free day is the first Tuesday of the month from 4-8pm. Generally free days are super busy so we went early and despite our earliness there was still a line to get inside (see below)! This month we spent our free time in the big creek they have. It was a very hot day so the cool wat...

If you are a mom living in a big city, like LA there are a ton of good online resources to use if you are in need of something to keep the kiddos entertained. When I was laid off in 2013 I freaked out because I didn't know what I was going to do with my daughter all day. As I settled in I found quite a few resources online for not only support but for activities. One of those websites is Red Tricycle. They collect all the events going on in major big cities across the US and put them in a daily calendar for each city that they publish online each day. All I need to do is log on and see what adventures the city has waiting for me that day. Not only do they have the calendar but they publish a ton of stories about "Things to Do" in various LA cities. It's an amazing resource that I have continued to use since I found it. Another great Mommy resource is the blog "Scary Mommy" which publishes all kinds of relatable mommy stories. This summer, while I...

I have lived in LA for 18 years and I had never in those years been to the Griffith Observatory. That is why I put it on Mommy and Miss P's Summer Adventure Bucket List. What is this list you ask? Well, my girl is about to start preschool in the fall and Mommy had an overwhelming need to spend time with her this summer before she hits yet another milestone. I've managed to be able to work from home for the months of July and August which allows me to be super flexible in my time I spend with my girl. Luckily, there is extra time for us to fit in several adventures during the weekdays. Today's adventure was a trip up the hill to Griffith Observatory. We live fairly close but in all of the years I have lived near the massive park I have never been. Now that I have been I wonder why I didn't go sooner because the view and the observatory is absolutely wonderful! The observatory doesn't open until noon on weekdays so I thought I was being good by leaving ov...

The Griffith Park Pony Rides are no strange to Miss P. The first time I took her she was a little under 18 months. I remember this because the Southern Railroad is next-door and kids are free until they hit 18 months. After the more adult observatory I thought we needed some good old fashion kiddie fun and ponies sure fit the bill. For $3 a kid can ride either a fast horse, a mild horse or a really slow horses aka six horses that walk around in a circle. We usually do the mild horse because Miss P can ride on the pony without other kids and I don't have to worry about the fast one and her falling off. After the ponies we can not help but take a train ride on the mini train that goes around the a small section of the park. For $2.75 you get to go to "Miami" or where ever the conductor wants to go that day. Ours apparently wanted to go south to the fun Miami.

The below picture is not Miss P but its from a Mommy blog about recanting a time this mom turned her back for a second to tend to a second child and later discovered that in the few seconds she had her head turned her 3 year old daughter had gotten into a can of paint and proceed to paint her entire body not to mention, a ton of the living room and fireplace. I couldn't help but laugh out loud as this is what Miss P looks like when she gets into the Nutella.

Our Saturday night was so full of promise and then it was ruined. For some reason the universe didn't want us to go to a drive in. Not only did we drive to the Electric Dusk Drive In in Downtown LA to take in E.T but we drove all the way out of L.A. about an hour away when we were shut out of the downtown drive to see Minions. After waiting in line for over an hour, police cars showed up and started flashing their lights telling people to move their cars because the drive in was sold out. 3 hours of our life completely wasted. I mostly felt bad for Miss P who had to sit in that car seat for so long. Luckily as we were driving back to LA after our second shut out she fell asleep. WTH Saturday Night?

I'll admit it I'm a craft girl. I like getting my creative on. So when the Renegade Craft Fair comes to town, which is twice a year (summer and near Christmas) I make time to go. They recently switched the event to Grant Park in downtown which is a lot more easier to walk around and enjoy then the previous location. Plus, it has an awesome kids playground and the perfect spot for food trucks to line up. Hubs and I were planning on sharing our grub but his truck line was a bit longer than mine and by the time he got his food 45 minutes later my waffle fries covered in pulled pork from the Peaches Smokehouse and Southern Kitchen were gone! I got a lot of great items this time around. I found a totally awesome "mom" bag that is not only reversible but has plenty of big pockets and lots of carrying options. It's the perfect bag!!! I bought Miss P some cute handmade underwear. Found some cute scrabble like coasters that spell Miss P's name. Bought a few jar...

Every year Seven Eleven offers up FREE small slurpies to the masses and this year Daddy took Miss P to the local shop and ordered her up a blue looking Slurpie. Here is the photographic evidence.

So my unease is over. July 1st came and there was no resolution at work so I took matters into my own hands. I needed to be with my daughter before she goes off to Preschool this fall so I told my boss I was quitting. But he didn't let me quit. He said to work from home. With the 20% paycut it really made no sense to pay a nanny for a month when pay was no longer guaranteed. So I took my boss's suggestion and I am currently working from home and my soul is full of happiness once again! I get to spend quality time with my daughter and I love it! This past week I have planned out several adventures for us and I am hoping we will have many more as the summer continues. I had lunch with my mentor, this week and I told her about my two accomplishments of late. The first was having to give a presentation at work to filmmakers all by myself and the second was being promoted to VP...pending the company gets the cash infusion it needs. It's only when I took my life int...

Every once in a while I get inspired to throw a party. The inspiration for this one was s'mores and sparklers. Our Fourth of July was cute short because of Moses' sheer fear of fireworks so we never got to see fireworks this year. Not that we missed them but one of the important aspects of the Fourth of July was missing. Our friend, jung had given us sparklers to do with Miss P at the Regul's Annual Block Party but sadly they never got used so we took them home to save for another time. "Another time" became the following Friday night. You know a good time to throw a party in LA and ensure turn out is on Friday Night. Saturday and Sunday's are always chuck full of things to do that it's impossible to schedule a time where everyone is free but Friday nights are a different story. So I invited our neighbors over for some Friday Night fun. It was the first time we have fired up the fire pit since Miss P was born I believe. And it was the first tim...