I got the best Mothers Day present ever yesterday.

There was so much great stuff about Mothers Day:

1) An entire full and complete day off from work.

2) A quiet breakfast with Phil while Josh slept off the getting home from work at 5am.

3) A 15 mile bike ride on the San Gabriel river trail in Long Beach.

4) Thoughtful notes and messages from friends and family.

But the best was a Mothers Day gift from Phil. We

My old pal Natalie Moser from Natalie Moser Photography posted a link to How to Miss a Childhood on the Hands Free Mama blog and YOWZA.

Recommended reading for all of us, not just parents.

Image by Hands Free Mama

This week, we’re getting into the swing of being back in the office after a fantastic vacation – we’ll be back next week with fresh new posts!

Josh and I were invited to check out the new TOTEM by Cirque du Soleil show down at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Wednesday night and the reviews are in – TOTAL YOWZA!

Since the Del Mar Fairgrounds are a fair distance from our Long Beach home, we pulled a few strings to make it work. I started my regular work day at 5:30am so I’d be off by 1:30pm, giving us enough time to get things together for Phil’s evening at Jay’s house. Turns out Josh is amazing, and had everything packed and ready to go when I peeled myself away

Remember that post I did a few weeks back showcasing some funny Draw Something pictures I’ve created?

Let’s check out some more! Some are minimal, some are involved. This one is my hands down favorite picture I’ve done in Draw Something so far:

I took way too long drawing this one. But that’s a tasty lookin Big Kahuna burger, no doubt!

If you get sweater, and you don’t draw an ugly

Have you ever left a blog comment that pulled up a weird random picture next to your name and wondered how to get your own avatar?

It’s so easy, and it takes like 3 seconds!

Here’s what I’m talking about – take a look at the comments that were left on my fairly popular post about funny Draw Something pictures:

The avatars I circled in red are the random ones that come up when folks that don’t have a custom avatar leave a comment on my blog. I didn’t circle

With upcoming travel plans, we had to line up planes, rental cars, hotels, and my favorite part – calling the best dog walking service in Long Beach!

We’ve been working with Rich Anderson from Critter Care for almost the entire time we’ve had Jimmy – going on 6 years now. I’m not kidding. Best dog walking ever.

There were times before we found Critter Care where we’d have folks look in on Jimmy when we were out of town, and the result

With thoughts of upcoming travel swirling around my head, I’ve somehow been reminded of the fanny pack. The perfect hands-free accessory for running around in a strange city, yet somehow it’s been cast aside as the red-headed stepchild of the handbag world, destined to never be thought of as cute.

UNTIL TODAY!!!

These days they may hide demurely behind the less teased “hip pack” name, but fanny packs are still around; some of them are actually not bad. I did find a bright teal one that screams “I REFUSE TO CHANGE!” But others, like a small purse that converts to a fanny

I’ve always been a little skeptical, but I successfully tried a homemade dry shampoo recipe this week.

I told you about how I got an awesome massage when I was at Burke Williams Day Spa this week, right? Right.

I don’t know about you, but when I get a massage, I get a massage. They ask me what kind of pressure I like, and I tell them to go nuts. Because I got a lot of kinks to work out, and they’re pros at workin’ out those kinks. When Cassandra asked if I wanted a head massage along with my back