Graduation Show.

A few weeks ago I was able to attend my sister-in-law's graduation ceremony. If you know me then you're probably wondering why I would do such a thing since I've already sworn to bribe my children with anything under the sun if it means we get out of attending a graduation ceremony....

However - this was unlike any graduation I've ever been to before. She graduated from the Woodbury School of Design and she is OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD-INCREDIBLE. I mean who has every issue of VOGUE as their light bathroom reading material? Her talent is in the category of surreal and we all sit in awe of what she is/has been able to accomplish.

For their senior project they have to come up with 4 outfits that make up their "line". They had a little video montage on each senior/designer where the student described their inspiration - I totally understood Rachel's vision and felt that she truly captured what inspired her - that is where the talent lies. (I only say this because do not be fooled - not every senior/designer was able to "nail" their vision like she did. There was one that was similar to a Project Runway disaster in which the model(s) wearing the "automobile inspired" outfits were barely containing their laughter - and in one case I think she mistook the Bugatti for an egg - so please understand that I am in no way biased here - just pointing out true brilliance :)

Before we made it to the Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A. we had a stroll around a mall where Tia decided to have her make-up done. She refused to listen to her older (& wiser sister)...

...But when I asked her to pose next to her "homegirls" with her new Jerseylicious face she grudgingly obliged and then pulled me into Sephora to clean her face and give her the simple "dewey" spring look she wanted...with readily available samples :)

We then made it downtown and realized we were soooo waayyy out of our league. And fearing that if Tia and I stuck together we would be mistaken for Ellen & her lover...Tia wouldn't walk next to me...

Seriously...how could we resist???

I then snuck backstage - just walked right back acting like I knew what I was doing...and started snapping picture of the crazy chaos.

Here are Rachel's clothes for her final project...

Except for this one...she worked on the final dress right up until the last minute...and it was fabulous!

Then I went and ate...

This was one of her projects for the "Apocalyptic" theme...totally radical.

Her design label

Her collection (which was inspired by dancers dressed in red & blue). As a side note - the students have to purchase all their own material etc... She did an excellent job at designing articles that would work well with "inexpensive" :) materials. And now for her dress (that she just finished sewing :)

And here she is...our very own little designer...

I LOVED Shooting this!!

They get one final walk with their most "fave" project...

Afterwards - Tia (and I) couldn't resist...I love that Tia has no fear to work a runway with her tiny 5'3'' frame.
Then it was on to the "GRAD PAD". My brother is in his first year of Law School. I wanted to take a picture of their form of entertainment...my children won't even know what this is...

BUT I'm happy to say that they do know who this is...

He shaved and cut his hair - not so scary anymore - and I'm not referring to the cat.

That concluded my whirlwind weekend of flight to Salt Lake, Warrior Dash and a less than 23hr. turnaround to L.A. and back.

Clean House & Happy Children

I am my mother.

I was sitting at gymnastics on Friday with one eye on McLaren making sure that every time he looked my way I gave him a double thumbs up and looks of encouragement...and one eye on Ella & her sidekick Lucy...and one ear on the mother's day discussion taking place among my friends. One was joking about her mothers' response to the question "What do you want for mother's day?" Her mom would reply "Clean rooms and happy children".

I burst out laughing! This is word for word MY mother's answer (even to this day :) - and this year I finally threw in the towel - took my OWN Mother's Day trip to L.A. to meet my mom & sister & Aunt & Cousin (the weekend before) - and told my family that today all I'd like is a "CLEAN HOUSE AND HAPPY CHILDREN...and a smoothie for breakfast..." And you know what? I got it.

The end.

Badger Blue

A quick sneak peek - his grandmother will be dying to see her 1st grandchild...surrounded by Badger Blue :)

Warrior Dash - INSANITY

Brace yourselves - This is going to be crazy - insane - and quite possibly one of the gnarliest things I've ever done this far in my life (except for the 2 nights spent in that Budapest Hostel...)

Warrior Dash 2011
When I first read about Trainer Momma doing the warrior dash - I knew I had to do it. I tried to round up as many people as I could. The men all whined the whole way until about an hour before - everyone started to get pumped up.

We got all the kids decked out (they did a great job as our cheerleaders - Ella licked the oreo icing and then handed the cookies to the Campbells' twins...a win-win.)

Have I mentioned how much Ella loves Greg? or how much I love his shirt??

Super sweet...

A little warrior craziness....

Most of the race is hidden but these obstacles were out by the entrance.

SOOOOO very very tired.

This chick got boo-ed big time..you don't skirt the mud! The crowd was chanting "push her in! push her in!"
Best couple shot of the day:

Favorite shot of the day:


Let's take a moment and admire this man...no idea who he is, but a great costume.

Sheris wins for best pose(r)

Taylor wins for best entry.

Taylors' BEST PHOTO EVER. He never poses for me...except here.

Taylors' face makes me laugh so hard...so very very hard.

These guys hauled this the entire way...it was hilarious! The crowd cheered for them - big time.

I was so worried that Greg was going hate me for roping him into this...but holy cow he threw down...literally! He's tied with Taylor for best mud of the day.

Things we learned:

1. TOWELS. Lots and lots of towels... we didn't bring any :(

2. BLANKETS. We brought none - I can't describe how cold it was after - even in Arizona!!

3. Big Shade tent (thank you Campbells!) & chairs

4. Stroller (need to haul "hidden" food)

5. Go for the late afternoon run so that you can justify staying in a hotel (because driving back to Prescott sitting in a pile of mud - would not be fun).

6. You can run at any time - they don't check numbers or runners and they send a group off every 30 minutes. We even brought an "unregistered" runner and she threw in and ran (she thought after the first 1/4 mile that it might not have been a great idea).

7. Fitness level does not matter - I approached a really high wall that had a rope dangling from it and the ladies in tutus that were in front of me said "nope - not going over that one" and they walked around it. There were all different ages - some ran -and most walked it.

8. The bigger the group & the better the costumes = MORE FUN! Seriously - you may feel dumb before hand (yes even I did) but once you get there it's a riot. We all ran at different times (photo ops :) but next year we will all run/walk together. Staying in a pack makes it more fun. I think I'll even let Indy come with us.

9. Walking the plank was the hardest for me - Matt didn't like the spider crawl.

10. The bigger the dive/canon ball at the end the more cheers from the crowd. One guy did a flip over every stretch of barbed wire.

11. The fire was really hot.

12. You don't have to race - we can always use cheerleaders - it was quite the spectator sport.

Can't wait for next year!!

Ellen & Portia

You'll never guess who we spotted at the LA woodbury fashion show!

Dash to LA

The metro in LA is a wonderful lesson on cultural diversity.

Taxis are boring...faster but boring. Just in case I don't make it to my destination - I'm on the blue line headed into downtown LA - just thought it a good idea to throw some coordinates out there...