the sunday-family-fun day

one of the things i have loved about living in southern california, is that, largely due to it's beaches and the little amusement park called disneyland, people are always coming to visit!  this week it was my cousin russ and his family, in town for some vacation time with mickey.  on sunday eve, i headed over to the 'local' cousins, where it had been determined that we were all going to do some evening sight seeing.

the plan was to swing by the newport beach temple, and then a stop at the beach.  the irony, is that it was a nearly identical repeat of my very first day living in california.  it was october, 2007, and my cousin-in-law, jenny had some of her own cousins visiting.  as a part of the intro to socal, we went to visit the newport beach temple and then to the beach in corona.  nearly eight years later, and just a couple of months before moving out of the state, sunday night had me feeling like i had come full circle - reflecting on my time here and how many amazing opportunities and blessings it has given me.

the spartan reunion

the farewell tour has begun.  which basically means that i am trying to make sure that i see all of my local friends before i move.  schedules being what they are, sometimes that's easier said than done.

take, for example the group of six of us broad run high school, class of '94 alum, all residing in the los angeles area.  i've had the opportunity to spend a little more time with brandon and michelle, than with bronwyn, andy, or kevin, but even with brandon and michelle, it had been a couple of years.

when i reached out to them about getting together, i had no plan, other than the intention to find a good date and put it on the calendar.  so as the date got closer, bronwyn reached out to me with some ideas about activities.  i honestly didn't care -- i just wanted to see them -- so i jumped at all of the ideas she and the others had batted around, and  a plan was laid.  but here's the truly amazing thing: i was not involved.   they figured out timing, locations, transportation, everything! i feel like 90% of my life is spent planning things for other people and this simple act, unbeknownst to them, was one of the greatest going away gifts they could have given me.

they had decided, that since i was the first person they had known with a selfie-stick, that we should pretend to be tourists in our own backyard.  we met at a speak-easy in culver city before piling into andy's suv, heading to la for dinner at the iconic cafe formosa.

after dinner, it was on to a couple of other stops; jim henson studios, capitol records, the roosevelt hotel, and grauman's chinese theater/walk of fame.

i've said it before, but there's just something awesome about being with people who have known you since you were a teenager. we laughed and caught up, and took photos, and laughed some more, all of us kicking ourselves that we hadn't taken more advantage of our close proximity over the last eight years.

and while i'm sad to say farewell, it looks like we'll be going out with a bang.  during our tourist travels, we happened to drive by the magic castle.  it's been on my bucket list since i arrived in cali, but you have to be a member, or be invoted by a member.  i thought i had combed my 'friend list' carefully to see whether i might know someone who knew someone, but had always come up dry.  so this night, as we were driving by the castle, i started to ask "does anyone know...? brandon immediately responded that he thought he had a connection.  and two days later, he confirmed via text.  we've set a date, and i'm equally excited to check this off the list as i am to see my friends one more time!

the tale of the red pants

anyone who has known me for five minutes, or has looked at even a few pictures of me, would be able to tell that i love black clothes.  in fact, it's not JUST black clothes i love, i just really love black.  i've always loved it, even before goth was a thing, and then in spite of it.  i even tried to convince my mom to let me paint my room black when i was 13 or 14 (we comprised on one black wall, one black and white checkerboard wall).  when it comes to clothes, not only do i feel like black is more slimming, but i also just think i look good in it.  it's a comfort thing, i'm sure.

so, nine or ten years ago, i bought a pair of red pants. capri pants to be specific.  it was kind of monumental, because at that point it was probably the only color not in a shade between black and gray in my closet.  and i loved them!  i thought they were fun and flattering and comfortable.  i wore them a lot, until i couldn't wear them anymore.

it wasn't that they wore out. no. sadly, it was because there came a point where they just didn't seem to fit any more.

these are the pants in 2006:

i don't know exactly when they stopped fitting - i think it was sometime later in 2006 or early 2007 - but i didn't have the heart to get rid of them.  they represented so many things to me, that i just kept moving them from place to place year after year.

in fact, they have sat, unwearable, on a shelf in my closet or drawer in my dresser for the last nine years.  for awhile, i kept thinking that surely they would fit again, someday soon. but soon was not to be.  and eventually, they came to serve as a visual reminder.  at that time (back in '06/'07) i was somewhat unhappy with my appearance. i felt fat. i thought i looked fat --you know, the 'every woman' complex -- and for the last several years, when i look back on photos of that time (and in those pants) i couldn't help wonder what was wrong with me! how could i not have been happy with myself then? i was so much thinner, healthier, and what i wouldn't give to get back to that.

so as a part of the upcoming move, i've slowly been going through things and getting rid of what i don't need/want.  this morning, i dug into a new batch of clothing i haven't worn in awhile and something incredible happened.  i tried on clothes i hadn't touched in years because maybe they were just a tad small when i bought them (hoping that i too would be smaller soon), and some of them fit!  in fact, some of them were too big!  shorts after dresses after pants after skirts, i tried on.  and eventually, it was time for the moment of truth - the red pants.

i couldn't believe it when they slid on easily, and buttoned more easily than i had ever remembered.  all of a sudden, the belt that was once just a fashion statement had become a necessity.

these are the pants today (i tried to recreate the earlier outfit as closely as possible):

last february i happened to be in a hotel room that had a scale.  i don't know how long it had been since i'd been on one, but for kicks, i stepped on, just to see.  and i was absolutely horrified.  clearly i had been in serious denial, because it had gotten out of control, and i hadn't even realized it. but i also felt helpless.  i was traveling A LOT, which is brutal on a diet. not only is it a challenge to eat well and practice healthy habits while on the road, but for the small windows of time in between those trips, i couldn't muster the motivation to do much more than drive through the local fast food joint.

so, when october rolled around and i was reviewing the upcoming calendar, i realized that i my travel was going to be very limited for the upcoming two or three months.  it was now or never time.

i started scouring the internet for recipes, focusing on low-carb/paleo/ketogenic options, and was pleasantly surprised at how far the food world has come in that regard.  i slowly started acquiring healthy base ingredients, learned to like left-overs, stopped eating late meals, and reduced my soda intake. it hasn't been all sunshine and roses, but since the beginning of november, i've lost 35 pounds.  i've actually eaten better (tastier) food then i'm used to at home, and learned to enjoy cooking.  i've hit some frustrating plateau's and had a few small backslides (always travel related), but overall, i've managed to keep moving forward.  i'm no longer tempted - or rather, i no longer find myself NEEDING the problem items (chocolate, chips, every kind of junk food), and the 'diet' has turned into a 'lifestyle'.  the way i look at food has changed, and so have my habits.

the funny thing about those pants is that i know i weighed less than i do now that last time i wore them.  i don't know exactly what that says about the shape of a body or how weight affects it at different stages of your life, but i know that i'm thrilled.  i've got 25-30 more pounds to go before i'm at my ideal weight, and i am looking forward to the day i can safely donate those pants because they are just too big!

the renaissance pleasure faire

when i was a teen and visiting my grandmother's new york lake house every summer, we usually made a stop at the local renaissance faire.  there were two things that always made it memorable.  the first, was that for many years, my cousin was one of the actors.  as a result, for two or three years, before our visit to the faire, several of her cast-mates would come to the lake house and spend the day with us boating, water skiing, relaxing.  typically we visited the faire the following day, and to see the change from real person to character was truly unique.  it also always made us feel like we were part of the group...to be interacting with characters who we had met the day before giving us a sly wink or some small acknowledgement of our shared 'real life' day.

the second was that this particular ren faire had something i'd never seen/done before or after.  they had a quest.  so, instead of wandering aimlessly throughout the day, we started with a clue which led us to a character, who gave us another clue, which led us to a character, etcetera, etcetera. usually it would take a good chunk of the day (with the leftover time available for watching other entertainment), and of course, my family won every time we participated (beating out other attendees also participating).  it created a totally different kind of interaction with the characters than you would otherwise get and it was super fun to collect clues.

larysa and i spent the day walking.  really. mostly walking. we signed up for the 'quest' and found the morning half extremely enjoyable.  the clues were not difficult to follow and we met and interacted with some fantastic characters.  it felt 'easier' than i remembered my previous experience, but nonetheless, we enjoyed ourselves.  of course, we were the first people to turn in our collected map pieces and with the second portion not beginning until over an hour later, we took a break to sit and eat.

  

of course i had to have a giant turkey leg, sadly, it wasn't as good as i remember them.  but the sitting was lovely and much needed.  the faire grounds aren't big, but our clue hunting had us doing a lot of back and forth.  fortunately it was a beautiful day, which got more and more crowded as the day went on.

we then began the second part of the quest, and it didn't take long for us to figure out that it was kind of lame.  i don't really know how it came to be at the new york festival, but in this case, it's a seperate company than the ren faire folks who run it.  it appears that they have coordinated with the faire enough to involve their cast for the morning portion, but not for the afternoon portion, so the people that we were trying to interact with in the afternoon seemed kind of lazy. and frankly, at that point we had clocked 7 miles and just didn't appreciate being given tasks that would take us from one end of the grounds to the other, only to do the same over again.  we called it.

it was fun, but i'm not sure that i would do it again.  it certainly wasn't as memorable as my earlier experiences.  maybe with kids or a big group?  but even then... i felt like new york was so much better because, aside from the quest part, the faire itself was better. the stage shows were pretty amazing, and you could see a lot of genuinely good shakespeare comedy all throughout the day. the characters were more involved with the patrons.  i don't know, just seems better. now i kind of really want to go back to the ny one to see if that all still holds true.  sadly, with my grandmother's passing, i may never have another opportunity. so instead, it will stay this perfect little memory in my head.

the kneelands

i know i just got back from seeing some of my favorite people in utah, but as it turns out, some of those same favorite people had been planning a trip to california!

jill's sister linda (who i've known since, basically, she was crawling), and her husband just moved about 10 miles up the road from me. corey and jill, in an effort to visit her, planned a disney/cali trip, from which, i was also able to benefit!

thursday after work, i drove up to redondo to meet up with the gang.  we enjoyed a fantastic poolside bbq at linda and toby's apartment, before walking to the redondo pier. linda had gotten a groupon for sailing, and again, i benefitted.  i used to go sailing with friends a fair amount in virginia, but i've never been in california.  it was a perfect evening, being on the water, watching the sunset with such great friends.

as i was walking back to my car.... there's something about the ocean at night that made me realize that there are a lot of things i'm going to miss about california when i'm gone!