just another day in sunny l.a.

yesterday i packed the bean up and drove out to amber's place to meet with her and a few others to go on a training walk around her ginormous apartment complex. i mean, it's so big that she already had a route mapped out that wound around and through the place that measured almost two miles!

my original plan was to leave the bean at home with the hub for the morning, but he was still feeling yucky, and i sure didn't want him to end up puking while keeping an eye on her (nor did i really want her to catch whatever cooties he had). so when we arrived i bundled her up, since it was hella windy (yes, i said hella. shut up), strapped her into the carrier, put her shades on, and we headed into amber's apartment building.

i've been there a number of times before, but never actually went upstairs into her apartment. so i walked into the lobby, stared at the elevator, checked the directory (um, ALL the numbers started with a 4. didn't really tell me which floor to go to), and even looked at the mailboxes for help. nada. so i called her, got no answer, and started to wonder if i'd gotten my days mixed up somehow. damn.

next i tried the monkey, and luckily, she answered. she was on her way, and i found out that amber hadn't picked up because she was talking to the monkey when i called. heh. i called amber again, and she and tater came down the elevator to meet me. after giggling at the bean's silly pink sunglasses, we were joined by the monkey, lilcee, and weatherjen. more giggling, greetings, and then purses were taken upstairs and off we were on our walk through the complex. yay!

we walked at a nice, brisk pace and were actually quite surprised when we found ourselves back at amber's building. "do you guys want to loop around again, or shall we head over to farmers market and grab brunch?" she asked.

um, duh. exercise or food? ha! another half mile later, we walked into nordstrom (hey, we HAD to go through nordie's to get to the grove and farmers market. had to.), made a quick pitstop at the shoe department, and then to barnes & noble to pick up a little gift for trish, who was celebrating her birthday that day. plus, tater had the forethought to bring cupcakes for the birthday girl - complete with a cute st. patrick's day/birthday label. we also squeezed in a stop at the nike store, where amber showed us the awesome dri-fit tanks she'd bought there. they were on sale, so tater and lilcee decided to take advantage. i was planning to hit up the nike outlet later in the week, so i put the blinders on and managed to walk out without a purchase. *gasp* half of us went to the crepe stand, and the other half opted for mexican food at loteria. i never turn down an opportunity for a crepe, so i followed amber and weatherjen to the end of the line. the hardest decision of my day was the debate between savory and sweet - the other two were smart enough to order one of each and share, but i wasn't quick enough on the draw. after watching this lame chick ask the order taker a zillion questions (while we tapped our feet and stared at her irritating ass), she finally placed her order and got the hell out of the way. i mean, come on - we'd all been standing in line for a good ten minutes! figure your shit out before you get there, dummy.

there was also a guy in line ahead of me who couldn't stop looking at and talking to (and touching, ugh) the bean, who gazed up at me so lovingly. she was absolutely oblivious to this guy and his lavish praise of her hair, her cheeks, how focused on me she was, blah, blah, blah. i mean, okay, my kid is cute. i know this. but come on, dude. you're fucking creepy.

trish joined us and bought a sandwich at the crepe stand, and we all wished her a happy birthday while we munched and chatted. the bean decided that since we were eating, she deserved a snack, too, so i plopped a bottle in her mouth, which i held in place with my chin as i happily grazed on my crepe. i'd opted for a yummy savory crepe with smoked salmon, scrambled egg, sour cream, and chives. mmm, it was dee-lish! we strolled back out of farmers market and walked into a couple of stores at the grove. along the way, we passed jack gallery, which showcases funny art by todd goldman, among others. these were in the front window: and then i decided to find a way to incorporate this into my hint-dropping for mother's day. i haven't done it yet, but there's plenty of time.

as we continued our stroll through the grove, we were startled to turn around and find some weird old dude with a cool camera taking a picture of me and the bean. i mean, he was totally random, and didn't ask permission before snapping away. this has actually happened to us before, so i just brushed it off, but weatherjen and the monkey were so incensed, they wanted to chase him down and make him delete the image. heh. we marveled at the freaky ass people in the world and moved on.

and soon, trish bid us goodbye, we wished her a happy birthday again, and then back we went to amber's. weatherjen left next, having tons of house stuff to accomplish/oversee, and the rest of us filed back into the elevator to scoop up cupcakes that tater had so thoughtfully brought for us. hey, nothing's better after a marathon training session than baked goods.

i decided to take the opportunity to change the bean's diaper before getting back on the road, and she decided to play and squeal and entertain us as she frolicked on amber's carpet. we don't have much carpet in our house, so this was a new sensation for her, i'm thinking. and here's where the monkey and the mini-monkey discovered each other. seriously, it was just so cute, watching them together - if you know the monkey even a little bit, you know she's NOT a fan of wee ones. and so it was truly shocking to watch her, of all the girls present, get down onto the floor and start playing with the bean. i think it's love, folks. maybe the ice is melting, just a little bit? heh. the bean is monkey-approved! yay! lastly, here's a couple of random ass pictures i took as i wound my way through downtown on my way home. um, the end.