Jenn "More costumes than Bugs Bunny" N.'s Profile

One, two..buckle my shoe.

Yea, I was -  three, four throwing up on the floor two days later but really..who's to blame?
http://www.yelp.com/bi...

and it was totally worth it. With the Superbowl impending upon us, I needed a good cleansing anyways.

I had such a great time!  I am a big kid and I was in heaven. Had a blast with the community art wall, the water works, the bubbles, the story tree, the dress-up and the wee pizza joint that is so near and dear to my heart.  I never made time to make a corn husk doll but loved that it was available and give total props to all the guys that joined in. I was exploring a bit, came across the starry sky tunnel and stole a kiss.

I saw so many smiles... genuine ear to ear grins.  People were cutting loose, unleashing their inner kid and having a blast at this event.

Thank you to everyone involved.  

Connie...you rocked it!

Sometimes you just need a sweetened cake fried in fat.

Considering the fact that I was befallen with a nasty virus that was *bold* totally un-related *bold* to this establishment, I will be considerate and just say: I had issues the first four days of this week. I woke up feeling much better and decided to splurge today.

It was sinfully delicous.

Extra star: Coffee was nice and fresh on my break at 9:30 a.m.

I had often tried to picture the downright perfect venue for an elite Yelp event.  I knew it would have plenty of seating, engaging decor for photographs, multiple stations for drinks and/or food, nice restrooms and a kicking sound system.

I never even thought about taking all of the above, making it a two story mecca and setting a stage + dance floor within sight of it all!

Ligaya is pure genius.

The Lady Gaga theme was a blast.  I pulled out my sewing machine and buried an old frumpy evening gown that I despised. It was re-born into threads of funshiny splendor. I fashioned together some ridiculous sunglasses with hot glue on sparkle foam, threw on large netted stockings over white tights and applied cartoon lipstick. I had a bit of a panic attack when we first turned the block after getting off of Bart.  We saw a large line of people wearing cowboy hats and a fleeting panic spread into my veins.  Had I misunderstood the theme?  Then I realized. No, that definitely had to be the wrong line.  As we turned the corner and I saw a girl wearing a dress made of only white balloons...I knew I was home to the mother ship.

Thank you to New Parish, Yelp, Stunna, Drink me Mag and Festizio (Yeahh!!). I'm still thinking about those orange peel & cherry liquors.

Thank you to the East Bay Yelp community. All of you. I prefer to call you my EB Yelp family.  You guys truly are the best.  I never thought I would be in a position to flutter around an event with hundreds of people - that I truly consider friends...great friends. I felt no pretense, saw no scrutiny...just smiles and warm hugs.  

Not to mention, damn..we lit up the dance floor. Love you guys!

Eclectic is an understatement.  

Where else can you buy:

Black and white striped knee socks
4 handy containers filled with 800 toothpicks
Sunglasses
Bag of black feathers
"My family is a freak show without the tent"  notepad
Black & red beanie
Piano key tie
Desk bamboo plant

for a grand total of $8.74?

They have party, crafting and school supplies.  Accessories up the gazoo and knick knack paddy whacks.

You name it, it might be here.

When I have to come up with a crazy costume on a budget (which is quite often now that I think about it), this is my first stop for inspiration.

If the recommendation is that you get your hair trimmed/cut every 4 weeks, I was about 25x over due.  The last time I took my daughter to get her hair cut, I took her to one of those tres chic places.  It took over an hour, the lady wouldn't shut up and it cost me close to a C-note.  It left such a bad taste in my mouth; I put off getting my own locks cut for another half a year after that.

However, 35 began to loom ominously and I knew it was time to face the music.  My daughter was also ready for a change and asked if she could tag along.  I woke up feeling lucky and spontaneously drove us to Hair Masters.  It's right next door to the grocery store that I frequent nearly every day.  I know it's one of "those places" and it's a cheap cut but I decided to roll the dice.  

We showed up armed to wait.  Magazines, Ipods, etc. We didn't have reservations so I figured it would be at least an hour before we would see a chair, plus there were two of us in need of a cut.

As if royalty, we walked in, were welcomed and escorted to our thrones.  I'm not kidding.  Absolutely no wait.  There was a younger gal with a stylish cut herself and Trish (who cut my hair) ready with scissors in hand.  I sent my daughter over to the younger gal. We had each brought a photo of what we were hoping to achieve.

My daughter got the exact cut she was hoping for. She was afraid whoever cut her hair would chop off too much.  The stylist stuck to exactly what she asked for, an updated version of her long locks. It's cute, punky and fun.  

My stylist (Trish) took a minute to asses my hair's natural attributes and suggested a cut above my chin.  I was so sick of seeing pictures of the back of my hair looking akin to a sick corpse; I was ready for a monumental change. I gave her the thumbs up.
I love it.  I think it is the best haircut I have ever had in my life.

We were in and out with a flash.  Even including their tips, I spent less than $50 for both of us to get awesome cuts.  

So will I be back?  You bet!

I have been making the Marsh Creek commute for a couple of years now.  Somewhere along the way,  a cute little store popped up.  Then there was an article in my local newspaper that drew in my attention.  

Two brothers that grew up in the area, decided to plant and harvest olive orchards.  While providing their pressed olive oil to local fruit stands, restaurants and stores, there was still a high request for a local store where locals could purchase their olive oil and other locally grown products.  So they did.

For some reason, on Christmas Eve - I got the bug to finally make it a point to stop in and visit.  I'm so glad I did.  My husband wasn't sure they would be open, we decided to take a quick drive by and see.  Sure enough, they were.  I had been stressing about being a bit short on gifts for my tea loving mother-in-law and they had locally harvested honey.  

Sean McCauley himself was there when we dropped in.  He was very cordial and gave us a tasting. The garlic olive oil and balsamic vinegar were so good, we had to take home a couple of bottles.  The basil olive oil is incredible, perfect for dressings or pasta.  I wasn't daring enough to try the jalapeno olive oil but the mixture had a really pretty orange hue to it.

The pies and cobblers looked delicious.  There are picnic tables available and they hold various events here.  It's a really quaint, friendly little store.

The term "good people" just comes to mind.   I love my town.

I made a promise to my little girl. The next time Muse came to the bay area, I would take her to see them. I was not thrilled to find out they were coming to the Oracle Arena but a promise is a promise.

If you are taking Bart, make sure you have a large man or a large crowd with you.  The walk is not short, well lit or secure.  Also keep in mind that it is up to you to watch the clock and make sure you catch the last train (which is always fun) out of there.  

There are too many seats per section. The people in front of us had to stand up approx. 1,209 times throughout the show to let various people in and out. I chose to wait until in-between sets to bend over and take it up the tailpipe (2 small bottles of Pepsi for $14). I was near the entrance to my section (of which they never bothered to close the curtains during the performance) so I got to the concession with very little line. I get to the register and the lady says, "Hold on a minute, I'll be right back." She then proceeded to go slowly make herself a cup of coffee. :/

All the bands were incredible. Even through what smelled like an onion bomb and the entire sound system taking a crap mid-song, we managed to enjoy the show. Only thanks to the performers.

Thank you 30 Seconds to Mars, Thank you Muse.  I can not wait to see you somewhere else.

I had a GREAT time.  However, I almost lost my toes.  That was totally my fault for wearing peep toe shoes in 30 degree weather.  Dumb.  

Next year I am wearing thermals, pajamas and big ass bunny slippers. My husband doesn't believe me...

Watch me.

We were cold but had fun in the line.  I was mentally prepared for a long line and wait, considering the massive numbers of people signed up.  Thank you to Joe & Jessica for warming me up with a swig of some delicious Hangar One via a flask.

The live art exhibits were truly awesome.  I grabbed a couple of Ike's sandwiches (what were those cards for btw?!?) and one of them; it had turkey, avocado and some other deliciousness...heaven in my mouth.  I stuck with wine (learned my lesson last year), to no chagrin.  The Scott Harvey wine was excellent!

I felt like I said Hi, Bye to most and missed everyone else altogether.  Sorry if I missed you.  

If anyone found photo booth pictures of a chick in victory curls, those are mine.  We forgot to go back and pick them up. :(  On the Bart ride home, I remembered somewhere around Rockridge.  Speaking of, the fact that it was Bart-able was awesome.

Two equal and opposite experiences of the evening:

Positive: Met Russ, one of the co-founders of Yelp.  Really cool guy.  I only got to meet the balloon version last year.

Negative: "Met" some wasted dude that stumbled on top of me, grabbed my hand and tried to start swing dancing with me. I was not on the dance floor.  I tried to distract him by saying, "I don't think we have met."  He stopped, put his hand over his chest and said, "Whas flubba gub phat handy."  I pointed to his name tag and said, "Are you Andy?"  He then ripped it off put it behind his back and said, "It's on my ass."  I said, "Yea..." and turned away.  Luckily something else sparkly got his attention and he moved on.

Good times.

Thank you Thank you Thank you Yelp.

I don't know how you can live in California and not take time to enjoy our beautiful state parks.  I have heard that due to the economy, the camp grounds are filling up.  Families are choosing the camp vs. a big expensive trip to amusement parks, etc.

No matter the reason, it's a good thing.  A simple camping trip feeds the soul.  It's not something that is easily described in words.  You just have to go experience it for yourself.  My girls adore camping (what kid doesn't?)  I love taking a couple of days off from the constant buzzing of phones, televisions, computers and general blur of busy that I live in.

There was a huge fire here and although it breaks my heart, it's the only reason we were able to land a spot for our July trip.  I had procrastinated a bit and was coming up empty handed on finding us a place to go.  Someone was watching out for me. The day I happened to hop on and look around for a site a Big Sur was the day that Pfeiffer had re-opened for reservations.  I snatched up a couple of spots and let everyone know what the plan was.

A lot of friends backed out and I dropped one of the spots. We decided to just go as a family.  I know for a fact that those who dropped out were sorry after our pictures came back.  The park is gorgeous.  We had a blast.

We stayed in tent spot 147 which was very close to the store and a non-shower bathroom.  The store had pretty much everything you might need.  We forgot syrup.  It was nice to walk over a few feet and avoid eating dry pancakes.  Quarter showers with warm water cater to those that like to "rough it" cleanly.

There are a lot of fun little trails and the river is beautiful.  We spent an entire day just hanging around in the river goofing around. I can't wait to go back and enjoy the ocean trails.  This park really has it all.  The fact that the weather was absolutely gorgeous in the middle of July was a major plus.  70's during the day and chilly at night.  

There was one night we had pulled out some glow sticks and were goofing around the fire.  We heard music...loud music.  I tuned it out for  little bit and then curiosity got the better of me.  We took off, followed the sound and came upon a site filled with people who had brought an entire band of acoustic instruments and lights.  Bongo drums, guitars, etc.  Most everyone who wasn't a stick in the mud had gathered around.  Spontaneous clapping and dancing erupted. It's one of those moments that you never expected but cherish.  Good times.

At exactly 10:00 p.m. it all came to an abrupt halt.  Quiet time is 10:00 and it's rumored that they take it seriously.  We returned to our site and kept our rowdy games & giggles to a low roar.

We scouted out our favorites spots for our next trip and will be stalking reservations 6 months in advance as required.  I want to thank California for continuing to provide us with these precious opportunities, to enjoy the beauty and diversity of our great state.

No shirt, no shoes...no dice.  Right. Learn it. Know it. Live it.

The Summer Special was delicious.

Friendly Service. Quiet, clean and calm.  It was the perfect atmosphere for me to relax for an hour or so and catch up on my dream journal.