body-foolish? no, bodywise!

on saturday, i was up bright and early (6am!) to head out to pasadena's westridge school for girls. my junior league's highly-anticipated annual "bodywise" conference, aimed at middle school-aged girls and their caregivers, was taking place and i'd volunteered for the early shift. i managed to get myself showered, dressed, and at the campus right on time.

see, i even found time to put my face on and dry my hair.

i was only the second car in the parking lot, and as i hopped out and walked through the gorgeous freaking grounds, it was pretty obvious that this was not a typical school. hell, for $30K a year, it better not be.

it wasn't hard to find my group, as there were lots of signs posted to help the attendants figure out where to go. and there was lots and lots of pink everywhere - my kinda event!

at the registration table, each participant got to pick up a cute little tote, stuffed with all sorts of fun swag from exhibitors and sponsors. and if you'd pre-registered online, you got a bonus - a cute little purple carabiner/keychain. i'm a sucker for freebies. hell, i managed to snag one for the teen out of the box of leftovers. yay for me!

speakers and other community volunteers got fun swag bags, too.

this was my post for the morning - manning the breakfast table. are you so shocked? heh. i was teamed up with one of the committee members, 16yearstogether. just like my friend 10yearstogether, she's been with her husband for a crazy long time. she was really sweet and friendly, and i had a great time hanging out with her.

there was lots and lots of coffee for the moms in attendance. and, well, the volunteers might have dipped into it, too.

the junior leaguers rocked these cute pink tees.

as we were polishing off the last of the set-up, the first few attendees made their entrance.

there were lots of exhibitors, from running programs to cooking camp to planned parenthood. i scooped up a bunch of super embarrassing pamphlets and brochures to give the teen.

i kind of wished i'd be around for this part, but i'd made lunch plans that took precedence. and i doubted i'd be able to borrow one of their crowns to try on, anyway. hmph. that would've made a fun picture, yes?

there were lots of interesting-sounding breakout sessions to choose from, like how to pack healthy brown-bag lunches, etiquette lessons, internet safety (led by the LAPD), and learning about your body. i think this is such a great event for girls of this age, because they're super curious at that point and so often don't feel comfortable talking about this kind of stuff. i wished i'd known about it a few years ago - i'd totally have brought the teen for a day of awkward fun.

of course, a local girl scouts troop made an appearance. they brought cases of cookies to sell, this being the final weekend of this year's girl scout cookie bonanza.

they'd also built this cool contraption that shot wiffle balls out towards a goal they'd also created. pretty neat-o.

jamba juice came with a shitload of smoothies that they sold for $4 apiece.

of course, the JLP had a table of fun event merchandise for sale.

a local dance instructor gathered a group of girls (and a few JLPers, too) and they wiggled and shook their booties quite enthusiastically as we watched.

our fearless leaders - the bodywise committee.

of course, we gathered for several group pics too. come on, like i'd pass up a photo op. there were a couple of publications present to cover the event, like the pasadena star news. i hope i get to see me in print.

just before the end of my shift, the subway delivery guys showed up with 300 boxed lunches for the hungry crowd. since they were still in their breakout sessions, we shoved them under the tables to keep them out of the sun.

all in all, despite the fact that the turnout was a little smaller than we'd hoped, i think it was a pretty darn good event. there were girls there who said they'd been to it several years in a row, which is kind of cool. and everyone seemed to be having a great time. i'm now strongly considering lobbying for a spot on the committee for next year's conference.

bodywise chair, are you reading? ;)