2013

2011

I knew this would happen.

I knew that someday I would actually run out of original ideas for photos.

Apparently that day has come.

It seems every year at this time I get insanely sentimental. Not sure why- but the end of the kids school year is so symbolic to me- and is such a clear marker of the boys being one year closer to adulthood. As I have said before ‘ if we moms do this right- we pretty much work ourselves out of a job in 18 years’…which means we only have a finite amount of summers with our kids. Time to say yes to fort building in the living room, and skateboarding after dark and of course popsicles.

Endless amounts of popsicles.

Jack and Tucker are OLD now. 14 and 12.  Which means only a few summers left with each of them.

I plan to make sure this one counts. Not with any extravagant trips or plans…but with stupidness, and building projects in the garage, watching the entire run of Arrested Development on Netflix and hanging at the pool. It’s less about WHAT we do- but more about making sure we do stuff together.

Because man, I am so gonna miss these summers when they are gone.

Some of my favorite thoughts from exactly this time of year since 2008:

http://marcywrites.com/2008/05/24/counting-the-days/

http://marcywrites.com/2009/06/16/this-is-why-i-love-summer/

http://marcywrites.com/2010/08/17/eating-summer-up/

Living in a tourist magnet location like Orange County, California has its pros and cons. One of the best pros is that you can sneak away about 15-20 mins from our house for weekend mini-vacations in any direction.

A few weekends ago, we stayed down in Balboa (Newport Beach) and yes, it really is this beautiful.

Tucker will find something sport like and competitive wherever he goes. And that includes fishing off the Balboa pier. He went and bought squid bait, cut it up and began fishing along side all the professionals there…all by himself. Luckily his brother came by and took this pick of his first catch. Tucker told me if we could just move down to Balboa I would never have to buy fish again.

Tempting offer kid. Although not sure if my fish savings would offset the 3 million dollar house I would want…I will have to run the numbers.

But it is these moments. Watching my sun-tired boys sleeping in after a night of giggling and a day of surfing that makes it really wonderful. Someday soon these magical mini-weekends will be nothing but a memory as my boys will be off making memories of their own.

UPDATE: If you decide to visit my preferred partner Leur Lab Integrated Aesthetics please mention my name! They are offering a complimentary Caci Muscle Lift Treatment, for the Entire Face when booking any laser or radio frequency treatment. This offer is valid until July 31^st, 2013.

The Reason: I know. The most glamorous thing I could think to share with you all is my neck fat. For your sake I am NOT ENLARGING this photo. But there it is in all its gooshie glory. My neck when I lower my chin close to my chest…and it is the inspiration for the first treatment in Marcy’s Midlife Makeover.

Over the next several months, I will share with you a few non-surgical procedures I am having done. After researching high and low I found Leur Lab Integrated Aesthetics and decided they would be great partners in my journey to fight gravity.

Treatment #1: Leur Lift (also known as Acculift)

Doctor: Dr. Dao

Facility: Leur Lab Integrated Aesthetics

The Cost:  Seek Consultation as prices vary

Purpose: to reduce lower jowls to improve jawline (seems my cheeks have um, ‘slipped’) and improve texture on neck. Also fat reduction on neck.

Procedure: I am not a doctor. Or a nurse. Heck I never even watched General Hospital. I have zero medical knowledge….and yet I am going to describe the treatment. In essence, it is a form of liposuction that involves injecting a liquid under your skin that helps to DISOLVE fatty tissue. See that little red dot by my ear? That is one of 3 ‘entry’ points. Additionally, Dr. Dao used a thermal laser procedure on the top of my skin to tighten.

The Before: First comes before photos, and the marking up fun. It looks like a toddler got the best of me while napping- but that is actually how Dr. Dao knows where to nip and tuck. I was a bit disappointed when he informed me most of my neck ‘sag’ wasn’t fat after all. Seems I have MUSCLE that makes my neck look walrus-esque…nevertheless we proceeded.

The During: Sooo they give you some ‘happy pills’ (Ativan and others) so you are kinda loopy. They inject numbing stuff so you are ALMOST numb. But I did feel the procedure. Not enough to cry. But enough to clinch my fists and grunt a few times. Oh I should add- I am a WIMP for pain. So I am guessing for others- they don’t feel it at all. The whole thing took about 30 mins. in a sterile medical procedure room.

The After: Um, well they wrap your head like you have a toothache in the 20’s and send you home (you need someone to drive you btw. I swore my assistant to secrecy. And now I am telling the world. I am complicated). By the time I got home…I WAS SWOLLEN. Like a bubble. It was endlessly hilarious for my boys. BUT no real pain. You feel numb and super tight…but no pain unless you rubbed the area.

Each day I became less swollen, less numb and skin tone more even. See that little dot under my chin? Another entry point-and they all healed in 24 hours.

On Day Three I realize that in addition to my neck redness making me look like a Law & Order strangle victim, my smile is broken. No matter how hard I try- one side of my smile doesn’t work. I panicked thinking there was some permanent damage. After my check up with Leur Lab and my doctor I learn since this is non-surgical the nerves are never cut. My smile will come back in a few weeks. Seems only a very few patients have higher sensitivity to the numbing medication. And well that is me.

Day Four I had to go shoot a video for Disneyland. Yes with swollen face, crooked smile and red neck. I broke out a scarf and went for it. The video is here. As the day proceeded my face got WORSE and the video is proof.

I started to feel pretty normal around Day Five. However, it going on 2 weeks as I type this and I still have numbness and sensitivity to touch.

The Results: This process will continue to improve for up to 4 months. Things get tighter and tighter.

Here is my new jawline as of a few days ago.

I will keep you all up to date on progress, and on the next procedure (Co2 Treatment to basically melt off my face)…which will be happening in late July. Stay tuned and also follow the Marcys Midlife Makeover Pinterest Board which posts photos in real time.

Your middle aged friend,

Marcy

I keep a really organized home. Well pretty much, except for the garage. Our garage has been like the junk drawer of our house. Come to think of it- because I have had a crazy garage I was able to keep my house so organized. It is like some OCD tradeoff. I shall call it; ‘OCD offsetting’….. Anywhoo…we finally pulled the trigger and invested in built-in cabinets so we can at least HIDE all the stuff I keep. Which includes loads of tools (I like to fix/make.build stuff), a collection of vintage hand forged farm and car tools plus 9 million pieces of sports equipment from baseball, hockey, la crosse, surfing, golf, long boarding and MORE.

Plus there is stuff like this…

It is a bank of drawers I rescued out of an old shed on the side of my grandmothers house when I was 15. It is depression era made, from old wooden cheese boxes. And um, I love it. I keep doo-dads and ‘littles’ in it now. Including a collection of Cracker Jack prizes from the 30s.

Before the new cabinets came, I took time to go thru drawers of odds and ends that came from my dad’s garage. I smiled when I found this old cigar band in one of the drawers. This was a cheap ‘garage’ cigar he smoked from time to time…and I still smile at the smell today. I miss my dad, gone now for 9 years this week (feels like yesterday) but I love that one of my happy places was his happy place too…the garage; where everything is possible if you take the time to figure things out.

My garage holds all the bits and pieces of me. The other parts of me that just don’t fit any place else. Weird collections, boxes of memories and my new drill I got for Mother’s Day this year. My garage matters to me. Because I am more than what can fit into a kitchen or home office. I am complicated, complex and at times confusing and messy. I embrace my ‘garage’-and you should too.

Here is a pic of my dad, at his work bench  and all the lessons I learned there.

MORE ABOUT HIM:

HTTP://MARCYWRITES.COM/2009/02/7-YEAR-OLD-MARCY-SENT-ME-A-MESSAGE-TODAY/

HTTP://MARCYWRITES.COM/2009/06/STILL/

HTTP://MARCYWRITES.COM/2010/06/RIP-STEPHEN-LEE-MCCLELLAND-1945-2004/

HTTP://MARCYWRITES.COM/2008/06/WE-MISS-YOU-BIG-MAC/

So I have been busy. Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows. But today when I went take a photo with my phone it told me I HAD RUN OUT OF STORAGE SPACE. What? Then I realized I hadn’t uploaded photos off my phone for 3 months. Want to see what 3 months in my life looks like (and this is only tiny bits of it really)? Well it will be like a little game of match-up! Here is the list…now find the photo : )

1. I went to a hockey game. And it didn’t suck

2. I drank wine from a glass the size of my head and didn’t complain

3. Jack caught the moon

4. I took a selfie with the boys on Easter

5. I posed with my niece Manda on Easter

6. I took a road trip to San Diego for a mini-vacation

7. I went to sea world and found a copy of my childhood shamu lovie

8. The family meet and petted some penguins. They don’t like hugging either

9. Tucker channeled Bruno Mars and started wearing hats too small for him

10. I went to google for a meeting

11.  I took about 15 flights and stayed in 10 hotels

12. Tucker jumped off waterfall into pool

13. Tucker joined a tennis team at the club

14. Tucker got a haircut and he loves himself

15. Jack just continued to get cuter by the second

16. I got 6 pedicures. Each with a more annoying color than the last

17. Tucker broke his arm/thumb

18. I went nuts with a silver sharpie

19. I was featured on Lean In

20. Jack got a new pair of Docs.

21. I went to Mom 2.0 at the Ritz in Laguna

22. I wore a bird on my head for a Derby party

23. Jack’s band took second place in a Battle of Bands contest

24. Tucker promoted Guy Kawasaki’s latest book

25. I got flowers for mothers day (and a power drill btw)

26. I got this gorgE necklace from my personal assistant. Now I can never fire her. she’s smart

27. Tucker got his cast off while dressing like Charlie Sheen

28. My luggage was lost-forcing me to by a weird toothbrush

29. Also this entire outfit from Target for a client meeting the next day

30. Tucker got a manly tattoo of a rainbow glitter unicorn. so tough

31. The boys have rediscovered the ping pong table in the side yard. Summer is HERE.

People who ask me for ‘which ride should I go on first’ when they visit Disneyland, are always a little surprised when I encourage them to plan some of their day around the great shows and entertainment found all over The Disney Resort.  This summer, at the Fantasyland Theater in Disneyland is a fun, fresh and technology rich show that is worth every second of your time. No extra tickets needed- just show up, grab a seat and watch this fun musical revue entertain you and the kids.

Here is a video which includes some great clips of the show-so you can see for yourself!

Oh um, before you watch- my face looks like a lego head and kinda blown up. That is a result of this (more on it later)…but please be gentle and don’t laugh : )

Why yes, that IS a riverboat on stage. Only Disney makes it seem normal. 

And just for fun, I thought I would share these after hours photos I took while exiting the park on this evening…I swear you can almost feel Walt here when it is like this…

If you haven’t been to Disneyland or Disney California Adventure lately- I encourage you to go. And while you are there, slow down a bit and take in the magic of shows like Mickey’s Magical Map, the new Fantasy Faire experience or my all time favorite- The Billy’s in the Golden Horseshoe Revue.  For more information on all of these live shows- and many more throughout the parks- visit here -and get ready to be entertained!

“Coming soon. A story of feline love lost and found all while wearing stunning headbands. A must see.”

“I laughed, I cried…I purred!”

-Sam Catburg, The Feline Times

“A moving tail. No really- it moves.”

Sara Collared, The Cat Street Times

“The glamor of the early days of pet life in America. When a man was a man and a cat was a cat.”

John Furried, Meow Today Show

Peer pressure is a crappy thing. By definition it makes kids (um, and adults) lose their sense of logic and to do or try things that they wouldn’t ordinarily do if deciding alone. Peer pressure makes stupid decisions all because you want to impress someone you think you should admire.

Most of the time peer pressure LIES TO YOU.  I personally blame peer pressure for my 8th grade perm. For accidentally dating a drug dealer once in high school. And for numerous ‘just one more drink’ scenarios that ended up with me totally forgetting that I don’t even know how to play pool.

But recently I saw how peer pressure can have positive results as well.

About 6 weeks ago, Jack walked in from school and announced as he was opening the fridge for his afterschool meal snack ‘so, um yeah….I am in a band now.’ Always trying to be supportive sitcom mom, I smiled and said ‘that is wonderful dear!’…then I waited, sorta starring at him for a reaction. You see living with Jack is interesting. It’s like living in a Christopher Guest movie…where you are the only one without a script. Jack was known to announce random non sequiturs for comedic effect like “so I am a socialist now mom and it’s all your fault.” Or “There just aren’t enough Rugrats tattoos”. You know- just random things from his random mind- all to get a laugh from a non-existent audience.

But when I realized HE WASN’T KIDDING…I felt I needed to intervene before this went horribly horribly wrong.

“Wait ARE YOU SERIOUS?” I said. “Perhaps you forgot- but you don’t actually play an instrument. Like AT ALL”

“Check it out Mom. We are competing in the Battle of the Bands. I am going to play the keyboard. And well- all the other guys are really great musicians. They say they can teach me. …of course this could totally blow up on me. But like how could I say no. They are all seniors.”

So there it was. Peer pressure. This is not ANYTHING he would have considered- but cool SENIORS (reminder, Jack is a freshman) asked him to do this. And so -he was doing this.

Over the following weeks, I took my son to some Senior kid’s garage for BAND REHERSAL.  I made bad band jokes about groupies, back stage passes and saying ‘I’m with the band’ every chance possible.

And I will be damned, after a few weeks, my kid learned how to play 3 songs.

Jack was now a keyboardist in an 80’s cover band who not only competed in the Battle of Bands…they took home 2nd place.

I’m proud of Jack for taking on the challenge of something new, something scary and pushing himself beyond his comfort zone.

So remember, sometimes being pressured by your peers can take you into positive directions. I myself started juicing, working out and living healthy all because of the repetitive CrossFit posts on Facebook. Okay no I didn’t. That’s a lie- I just block all those people.

But still…I think it is important to remember-that with encouragement from a group of people who believe ….you can be ‘peer pressured’ into achieving AWESOME.

We attempted to reach Jack for comment, but he went all meta on us.

On a recent flight I was looking through a fresh copy of Fast Company when I saw something that stopped me in my tracks; this ad.

Straight away I thought there must some funny copy to explain this male only ad. So I read it- and sadly….Nope. Nothing.

So then I thought ‘oh I bet the next page is the duplicate ad with all women (which is a cool idea actually) saying that this car was for the 42-year-old-urban-dwelling-businessWOMAN.

But.

NOPE.

I was so shocked I actually said ‘WOW’ out loud. The man sitting next to me, leaned over- took a look and said ‘that’s just wrong’. I immediately fell in love with him. And had a desire to run up and down the plane and rip out this page from all the Fast Company copies. I didn’t- BUT WANTED TO.

So SERIOUSLY LINCOLN….are you insane?

What you are saying is THIS CAR is for MEN.

Not women, not their wives, not businessWOMEN….but only MEN.

Hey Lincoln- 1953 called and they would like you come back and smoke cigars while the little ladies make you dinner. You know, while you men talk about things like horsepower and your secretary and all that stuff we women COULDN’T POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND.

I buy ALL THE CARS in our household. I have owned 11 cars myself, and the husband another 10. And I have purchased them all in the last 20 yrs BY MYSELF.

Guess what car I won’t even CONSIDER now?

The 2013 MKZ.

Never. Ever. EVER.

I mean, after all- your ad told me it isn’t for me. It is for men. But my husband will never drive one either- because I DECIDE THAT TOO.

Fire someone. Then hire a smart woman to keep this crap from happening again.

CYA STATEMENT: These thoughts are my own and no one else’s. They do not represent my agencies thoughts, my colleagues thoughts, my clients thoughts or even my personal assistant’s thoughts. They are only my thoughts. And I think they are pretty darn good thoughts too.