8-Kid Day

I woke up at 6 (me! 6!) and got 3 kids to school on time with lovely snacks, lunches, uniforms and PE clothes. Hooray!


Then I came home and met my new, temporary mansion-mates visiting from Venice, Italy (Kim's friends, LOVELY ladies, and a long-haired mini dachshund, Elsie) and took a nap :)


Then... I tutored 5 kids tonight! I usually tutor 3 each day, so 5 is a lot (and a lot of driving)! Riley, Jack, Nicole, Allie, and an emergency session for Giulia Knox (7th grade, but more mature than any adult I know). Yay for getting to see Knoxes, huh Stevie?!! They missed a week of school in Aspen last week and the whole slope/y-intercept math thing was stressing Giulia out haha


I was so busy that I completely forgot to take a photo of anything so heeeeeeeeere's Sally! She's striking a sultry pose, as she tends to do:

And she's crying, cuz she missed me!!

xoxosb:)

I talk/write a lot at night.

If I did these blogs in the morning they would only be a photo and maaaaybe a caption, if it was after 11am.


I got up early (for like the millionth day in a row :/) and drove up to Long Beach to be a hair model for the International Salon and Spa Expo:

It was really cool. Imagine a huuuuge convention center filled with all the latest & coolest beauty, hair, and nail stuff. OMG!!!!! And it wasn't open to the public, only "industry," so they gave away all kinds of free samples and treatments! I could have gotten free manicures, hair styling, extensions, you name it, but I had to get back to the kids i'm watching. I just got my scheduled Keratin treatment, a haircut (both done by a NYC Ford Models stylist), and 2 little hair bling strands put in, all for free! I've been wanting the sparkly hair things for a while now! They put 2 little sparkly blue strands in (they are only the width of a hair and are tied to a few of your hairs so you just see a little sparkle in the hair), and then I bought some pink ones. 


Then I came back to the kids and Allison had her friend, Kimmy, over - oh i looooove Kimmy and have missed her. She never had me as a teacher so she signed up for any club I taught, no matter what it was :) So we (and Tara) watched a youtube video on how to put the hair bling in (it's quite an intricate, delicate process) and we all played hair salon for a while. I gave each girl 2 pink strands and Allison did 2 for me - it looks so pretty! The girls look like little angels! I can't wait to hear if the kids at school notice. I have pics on my camera but i don't have the cord here...


Oh and I watched Pretty In Pink tonite with Allison and Ryan. I was thinking they'd be bored with it b/c it's so 80's but they loved it. I love them.


I leave you with this, our word of the weekend:

Oh and PS Tara really likes Justin Beather. 
She said this.

xoxosb:)

Beather

OK - no sad post today, I promise. I've had a couple of sad days tho, it's weird, I'm not used to it.

Today I got to Lindsay's for tutoring before she got home from volleyball so I went up and hung out on their 3rd floor deck to wait. It's a lovely view, and today was beyond gorgeous weather:

Then I came back over to Meanys & to continue watching their 3 kids here until Monday. Tara (Kindergarten) & Allison (5th grade - I taught her in 1st) & I hung out on their deck and enjoyed a very different view. Sometimes I actually prefer the mountain view over the ocean view... but I love that I can see either one at any time:

Those are Tara's little flip flops, she was all snuggled up next to me. 

Tara is HILARIOUS! And Allison is a DREAM. Probably the nicest girl I know.

Colleen and Heidi came over tonight to hang. So fun! Tara was in heaven b/c she's the only one around here who's never had a baby sibling:

Heidi was such a good sport!!!:

And here are all 3 kids with her:

And then Tara showed Heidi her room and her "beather," which is a stuffed animal otter that she swears is a beaver and pronounces it "beather." I find that hilarious. 

It was nice to not have a sad day but it was a rlly busy day and I am beat.

xoxosb:)

"For Stony Limits Cannot Hold Love Out"

Let me start off by saying - Stevie captured a photo of a ghost tonight in an attempt to get a blog pic and you all should really be focusing on that...


So, oh... weird subject change :/, Steve Farkas' parents friend-requested me on facebook today. :(. Steve was in my grade all thru IC and we were the stars of the whole 7th grade Shakespeare program there. We were Romeo and Juliet, and that was a big deal. He was such a sweet guy, very artsy, and, as I look back, very ahead of his time. Steve went to a different HS and ended up being bullied there and taking his life. I hadn't had any contact with his parents since then until today.  
I wrote them a nice note and told them how their son is a very big and happy part of my childhood memories. It was tough. I'm so sad for them.


Besides that I stayed at the Meanys' last night and successfully and easily got 3 kids btwn the ages of 5 and 10 to finish their homework, bathe, get to bed on time, get up on time, get 3 lunches and 3 snacks packed, and get to school in perfect time. I feel really good about that. Being a mom is a lot of work.


So I napped from 9-1 haha and then picked up the Millers and spent the afternoon and evening watching them. I didn't take any pics today because I felt a little out of sorts. I didn't even think about it. I could take one of Sally now, she is very cute and I haven't seen her much lately, but instead I'll offer this pic of me and the boys in 8th grade with sweet Steven Farkas' head on my left shoulder. Oh Larry Sellers and your white pants pose!:

And now my line: 
"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow."
(I had such a cute pink dress for that scene!)


xoxosb:)

I Am Easily Amused

Today I tutored Kendall (sweet 4th grader) at her dad's office. We worked in the conference room and for a brief moment I felt like I had a real job - ew! So, we were working on division word problems and the book wanted her to "draw a picture" to help solve each problem. The first one was about a lady bringing 124 strawberries to a party to split evenly between 8 guests. We both thought that lady sounded lame. We gave ourselves 60 seconds to draw it and we were cracking ourselves up. Then the 2nd problem was about Mr. Chew's pen manufacturing business and putting pens in boxes. We both assumed he was small and Asian, and we couldn't stop laughing. Hey, her parents want her to enjoy Math!

My (awful) pics are on the left and Kendall's (good ones) are on the right:

And, as if I wasn't already having fun, on the way out her dad let me use the styrofoam peanut dropper machine! He said I was the first person he'd ever seen get excited about it. Seriously??!! That thing is COOL!:

xoxosb:)

Kinect and Be Nice!

Tuesday is Miller and Sorenson day - love it :)

I got to play Kinect for the first time at the Millers - omg amazing. We played Kinect Adventures - Henry and I against each other and then Olivia and Louisa:

Now I want.

And then I noticed this posting over at Sorensons' later and it made me laugh:

Evidently I won last week and will be entered into the drawing for the grand prize next week. McCall made me laugh when she said, "Notice who hasn't made the list?! Mark!?!" Haha

xoxosb:)

Monday 1/24 - fly home :(

I flew back to Orange County today. So sad to leave them! Especially since Jack just got home last night. But I had to get one last photo of Tanner and his "juice" before I left: 

xoxosb:)

Sunday, 1/23 - Park City!

Today we went to the neighborhood park to go sledding! It was gorgeous!!!!:

How cute is Shane?!

I REEEALLY like Courtney's green snowboarding jacket:

Courtney rode with Shane:

 And I took Tanner for his first time!:

It was so much fun! There was even a little ramp you could hit:

Then we came home and took the annual Sam & Lily photo:

Tanner was silly:

Shane was really into Spiderman, he has good taste:

And Lily was pure love:

xoxosb:)

Sat Jan 22 - Park City!

So Courtney & I left her car in town last night and took a taxi home. The boys, Shane (almost 4) and Tanner (almost 2) were VERY excited to ride the bus (their first time) into town for lunch and to get the car. We had to walk almost a mile with them in dumping snow to get to the bus stop - it was funny!

Here is adorable Shane at the bus stop, anxiously awaiting his first bus ride:

Here he is when he sees the bus coming - so excited!:

Tanner (and his juice) and I waiting for a table at packed restaurant/bar in Park City called Squatters. The benches are made out of snowboards and they brew a beer called "Polygamy Porter" haha It says"Why have just one?" on the label.

Everyone thought Courtney and I were a lesbian couple with our kids all weekend (Courtney's husband, Jack, was out of town with the snowboarding team). 

Our waiter at Squatters was terrible photographer:

Tanner was SO happy to have TWO JUICES!!! (He says "I want juice" all day, seriously):

Tanner is hilarious! We had so much fun together at lunch:

Then we came home (more "juice"):

and just hung out during the beautiful snowstorm. I LOVE their dog, Lily. She and I have a very special bond. She sat like this every moment I was at home:

I brought her a toy that we played with in the snow:

And she just looks at you like this all day - so sweet!:

Then I was going to take a nap but Lily and Tanner wanted to join so it didn't happen:

xoxosb:)

Fri, Jan 21 - Park City!

I was in Park City, UT Fri - Mon and wasn't able to post pics from my phone like I thought I could. But I had a WONDERFUL time with my friend Courtney and her family. Courtney was a teacher with me here in Orange County and then moved with her husband and boys to Park City last year to open Park City Snowboarding Academy. This is my 2nd annual trip to visit her during Sundance weekend. Loooove them and loooove Park City! 


Here are some pics from Friday:

Met up with my friend Antranig (LA friend, went to law school with Suzy) and a Sundance producer he reps (Jeff Tomsic) on Friday night at Flanagan's amidst all of the Sundance craziness. We texted this pic to Suzy of "2 of her favorite people in the world." The bar was really dark and Courtney couldn't get a good pic of us with my phone so Jeff set this shot up under a bar light and used his iPhone 4 to light it even more. 

So basically, this photo from my phone was directed by a Sundance producer haha:

Here are Courtney and I in the same exact nook we hung out in last year in Flanagans:

Oh so we had a few margaritas and Antranig swore that the lady next to us was Xena, the Warrior Princess. Courtney swore it was Chyna, the wrestler. Then she started making out with a guy that we all swore was a Geico caveman. Turns out she's neither and her kid goes to Courtney's snowboarding Academy - they're friends on fb even haha! I pretended to take a pic of Antranig and Jeff and secretly got 'em:

xoxosb:)

I Do Not Like Luggage On The Bed.

It means that you're leaving me, so I will not look at you for a photo.


All my love,
Sally

Love and Mud

There are way more pros than cons in my "job." It's so nice to know that I'm wanted and loved (and not being told on for things I haven't done) in the homes where I "work." And it's really nice to look down at an 8th grader's assignment book and see this on the day I tutor her:

Aww, sweet Riley (and her "ruft draft")! 

Plus it made me think about Religion Class at IC and Watterson and laugh!

However I did find a con this morning:

Kids + Dog + Skateboards + Beach/Park... 

Not sure if you can tell how completely covered in mud my car is but it is.

Not a bad con. I love my job :)

xoxosb:)

Miller Time

So starting today I pick up the Miller kids from St. Margaret's every Tuesday, take them to their various activities, and then leave at 6 to go tutor McCall. I love Tuesdays! On the way home from school to Emerald Bay, we stopped to get Acai Bowls and parked next to some weirdo French shop called "Jean Paul's Goodies" and Henry got very excited and said we should take a pic in front of just the part that says "Paul's Goodies" (they met Paul last week and really liked him):

I love the Millers!

We all went to the park for a while so that Henry could show off his new skateboard - and Milo the dog could get some exercise fetching tennis balls, then we came back and hung out.

Then I went to tutor McCall after and she and Trent really wanted to recreate the pic of Stevie and I - haha:

xoxosb:)

Shady's Back. Tell A Friend. (Thursday, 1/13)

I knooooooooooow I've been gone for a few days, but in the words of Shirley Bell, I had a "handsome distraction" here. 


So on Thursday, Paul and I went to Crystal Cove to have lunch at The Beachcomber - which is this cute restaurant ON the beach. We totally lucked out: no wait, front table in the corner, perfect 75 degrees and sunny day - it was heaven:

After lunch we went for a little walk on the beach and climbed on the tide pool rocks, so fun!:

And then, after tutoring at Harts, we had a lovely dinner at Wildfish - yum!

xoxosb:)

Back to "Work"

Tutored from 2:30 - 9 today for the first time in a while! I missed my Monday kids! And then I brought Paul over to Jacobs to hang while I tutored Lindsay <3


Here are the cute Acacio girls showing me the puppy they got for Christmas. 

xoxosb:)

Posers

So Paul and I went over to Stevie & Tedd's before and after a yummy dinner at Javier's today and Stevie presented me with some old pics she grabbed from Shirley's. Paul was especially amused by our poses in this pic and so we all decided to recreate it. 

Fun day! 

xoxosb:)

I'm not slacking, I promise!

So I tried to upload 1/3's post by text yesterday - I thought I could - but apparently it did not work. Oops! It was a busy afternoon of running around and the only second I had to breathe (and attempt to post) was in the massage chair at Happy Nails (thanks for the mani/pedi, Stevie!) My nail color is "Pretty Pretty Princess" and my toe color is "Mischievous" hehe:

Then I came home and got my room all clean and lovely, and just as I was walking out the door to go to the airport... Sally puked right on the clean, Francisca-made, perfect bed. Ohhhh Sally. 

But I had a GREAT evening!! <3 :)

xoxosb:)

Aaaaand the rain is back.

Colleen & I met at Bloomingdale's in South Coast Plaza today. Our mission was to score a pair of Hunter rain boots - very hard to come by around here we found. She brought Heidi, who clearly loves shopping and was a JOY:

And mission accomplished: Hunter rain boots (color: Aubergine - deep wine/purple - but you can't rlly tell here) and leopard Welly Socks (not pictured):

I love them! I think it's the first time I've been happy to have rain.


xoxosb