fun with the kiddies

i met up with my friend MommyBelle and her two adorable offspring for shopping and food court eats yesterday at santa anita mall. we'd been trading e-mails back and forth all morning, and it was a totally last-minute GTG. whee!

as soon as the cleaning ladies were done, i packed up the bean and got the hell outta here. i also scooped up those shoes i bought last week, along with the tory burch flip flops i picked up yesterday. i came to the sad realization that, although i love them both, i simply don't have room in my closet for two pairs of footwear that i wouldn't wear often enough. holy crap, that was quite a practical notion. how very unlike me.

i ended up pulling into the parking structure right behind MB & co. and finding a spot a couple of spaces away from them. and of course, the bean, who hadn't napped all morning, had fallen asleep during the short drive to arcadia. poop. she had all of a 20-minute snooze - not nearly enough. oh, well.

we decided to grab lunch first - a hot dog for LP, which she shared with LFM, and the grown-ups opted for crepes. strangely enough, i completely forgot to take pictures of our food - that's how hungry i was. oh, well. it wasn't all that exciting anyway, but it was yummy.

our first stop was the children's place, where i giggled at LP's antics as she chose sparkly princess tees and MB picked out a sleeveless bodysuit for LFM. she knows how much i hate those. tank tops + boys = no bueno. of course, i managed to find some stuff on clearance for the bean. of COURSE.

we found ourselves heading into the disney store, where MB groaned in agony to find an entire display of disney princess dolls. i'd totally made fun of her weeks ago when she called me during a target run, in search of a mulan doll for LP.

"yeah, sure, you'll find a mulan doll. just hop in your time machine and go back to 1996!" i giggled back then.

but i should've known that the disney store would have a rack full of ALL the disney princess dolls, past and present. i guess when all the movies are out on dvd, it doesn't matter how long it's been since it was released - little girls will want a doll if they dug the flick. and oh, does LP love those movies.

while i was in there, i managed to find a pillow for the teen's bed that she's going to FLIP over. it's from the store's "camp rock" collection. camp rock is, of course, the newest disney channel movie that features, of course, the jonas brothers. anyway, the pillow features a picture of the cast on the front and fun giant, clear sequins on the back. i pre-ordered the dvd of the movie too, and happily accepted the bonus - three full-color camp rock folders for school. she's going to be so stinking excited.

and then as MB laughed at me, i found a huge display of jammies for the bean on clearance - they ended up being under $4 apiece. really, i'd have been stupid to pass those up. right? right??

i'm pretty scared of this - in july, this will come down to reveal a brand new sephora store. crap. just what i needed - one of my favorite stores this close to home. greeeeeat.

by then, it was time to head out. LFM and LP are on quite a rigid schedule, which i'm always on MB's ass about, calling her the "nap nazi." although she gets me right back, because i'm on the total opposite end of the spectrum. i mean, the bean's kind of on a schedule, of sorts - i can predict when she's tired and ready for a snooze, and for the most part, i follow her lead and get her to take a nap. but i don't really watch the clock or avoid going out at any particular time. it works for some, not for others. and MB's got 2 little ones vs. my 1, so there you go. anyway, it was tons of fun to hang out with them, and i even scored a hug and kiss from LP before we parted ways. so sweet.

when we got home, i was thrilled to find that a dress i ordered a couple of days ago had arrived. of course, it had been haphazardly tossed onto the walkway in front of the house, which annoyed me - seriously, mr. postman? you couldn't put it on my doorstep when you stuck the crappy sale circulars and shitty penny saver in the mailbox? ugh.

this maxi dress has been all the rage on the fashion & beauty board on thenest.com. it's been worn by folks like christina aguilera, hayden panettiere, and lauren conrad, and it's supposed to be flattering on most body types, even short folks like me. so of course, i hopped right on that bandwagon and ordered one. okay, two. um, maybe a couple more. yeah. hey, i had a coupon code for a pretty darn good discount. shut up.

i stripped my shorts and tank right off and pulled the dress over my head, and fell in love. it's such a simple dress, but it's so comfortable, and really quite flattering! it's a tad bit too long, so i'll just wear some low-heeled sandals with it and it'll be fine. the monkey commented that the color wasn't her favorite, which i did agree with, but i'm gonna rock it anyway. at least till the others i ordered arrive. heh.

love. this. dress. so. much. yee-haw!