HELP!

Well, it was bound to happen. Although Judith Levine was able to abstain from shopping for a year, I was not able to do it for 3 weeks!

Yesterday I was Christmas shopping while waiting to meet my friend Soo for dinner, and I was pretty successful. I knocked out a few gifts on my list. I also tried things on for myself, but said "NOT BUYING IT!" I was walking around with a no-shopping pride in my resistance that bordered on arrogance.

Then I saw the Lucky Brand jeans outlet.

I have two pairs of jeans. As those who have seen me the last two weekends can attest, one of these pairs is just about to bust out at the butt. Still, I can only wear jeans on weekends, so how can I justify another pair of jeans?

Well, I did it. I tried some on and bought two pairs TOGETHER for $20 less than I paid for one pair last year! And I'm feeling incredibly guilty about it. So, I'm posing the question and will do WHATEVER is voted upon by Thursday morning when I pack to go to my family's for Thanksgiving:

Frederick Friends

Last weekend I headed up to Middletown, MD to meet some friends I hadn't seen in a couple of years. The occasion? Dameon and Cara's baby shower!

Dameon and Cara opening gifts

Cara and her Mom - soon to be first time Grandma!

The Huether family

Jill and Bill of BillandJill.com

CJ, Jake, and Derek

We headed to Bill and Jill's house after the shower to catch up and - most importantly - to play with the Heaton boys! Here are Nate and Liam enjoying leftover cupcakes... top-down, of course.

Sam, Nate, and Liam

Dameon and Randy also playing with the toys ... can you believe they don't remember Bristle Blocks? Wild!

Liam is maybe a little freaked out by the idea of there being a baby in Cara's belly. :)

I leave tonight for a Girls' Weekend in Maryland - lots of wine and gossip ahead! I can't wait! I meet Andrea, Gita, and Mary Brown in just a few short hours.

San Diego: Home of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long, but hopefully these pictures and videos are worth it. As usual, I'll just upload the pics and add text as soon as I can!

Sea World with Uncle Bill!

Waiting for Shamu

Shamu splash

Lauren

Killer whale flip

So dangerous but soooooo pretty!

Lauren finally got to the Elmo Area and completely freaked out! We had to go home!

La Jolla

Sydney, Lauren, Bill and Christie

Aunt Crazy (Anne), Bill, Christie, Lauren

Bill's house in Pacific Beach or "PB" .... which I thought was Peanut Butter until around the third day.

Cocktail hour in the front yard

Uncle Bill and Lauren watch Tinkerbell before we head to dinner

This was probably our favorite picture from the whole weekend... nothing funnier than a three and a half year old with jet lag! Poor pipsqueak.

... 8.... 9... 10... She's out. It's only fair - she woke up at 3:30 AM that morning! 6:30 East Coast time - how could she know?

Bill and Christie

Lauren and Christie

Lauren put on Aunt Crazy's sunglasses and kept looking at herself in the mirror.

OK! Sea World Round II! (Thank goodness for 2-day passes!)

Flamingos

Bill, Christie and Lauren

Sea Lion ... or otter.... or walrus... I have no idea, actually.

Aunt Crazy and Lauren feed fish to the sea lion through the feeder holes.

He sees it coming through ...

He got it!

Dolphin Discovery at Sea World

Lauren, Christie, Bill and the Popcorn!

I have no idea how they learn this, but it was really cool.

Handshake with Mary-the-Fake... they made you think she was plucked from the audience, but really she is a trainer. Fraud! (I wouldn't have have felt so betrayed if I were smart enough to figure it out. She fell into the pool and I gasped, when Bill and Christie pointed out that - duh - it was part of the act.)

The finale

The Clydesdales ... Christie was impressed that they didn't stink. These horses are treated like kings!

A horse, by any other name... Hee hee

Christie and Lauren with Pete.

They even had fancy Budweiser horse blankets.

You have GOT to be kidding me ... Bill, Christie and Lauren are headed to Atlantis.

This is Atlantis... but....

This is the first drop! Christie and Lauren were in the front seat, and Uncle Bill was in the second seat.

Check out Bill's face - hilarious!

No stopping now!

Grinning faces

Lauren wasn't sure WHAT happened, but she liked it!

Yes, I'm still here!

Hi Bill! It was actually pretty brave for all of them because it was chilly that day!!

What was Aunt Crazy doing all this time? Observing these EXTREMELY cool Commerson's Dolphins.

On the way home, we gave Lauren the camera. I think it's interesting to see the world through Lauren's eyes. Here's Uncle Bill. Hey - eyes on the road, big guy!!

Here's Mommy!

Here's Aunt Crazy!

After Sea World, we went to see Leah and Dave at their store Material. It's an awesome upscale clothing store on University Boulevard.

Entrance

View of the store - nice foosball table!

Caleb giving Lauren a tour of the store.

The front of the register counter is a mirror - HOURS of entertainment there!

Aunt Crazy and Caleb ... with Aunt Crazy's iPhone. Dave was so right - he IS a gadget kid!!

The Reyes clan - Caleb, Leah (Geyer), and Dave.

Fish tacos at Bill's! (Christie and Lauren were in bed, since they needed to leave at 3:30 the next morning!)

I believe this is known as the classic Toddler / Dog Tete-a-Tete.

Leah and Caleb

Dave and Bill, with their blocks.

Sydney scaring birds on Ocean Beach.

The back of the truck of the Lifeguard who almost gave me 2 citations for letting Sydney chase birds on Ocean Beach. Oops! Time to pull that "I'm-very-sorry-I'm-from-out-of-town" card!