The BFFs Celebrate 40 in LA!

This year, instead of going to Edmonton with my BFFs, we celebrated our 40th birthdays in LA! This is a big upgrade from our usual drive to West Edmonton Mall where we shop all weekend. Instead, our weekend was full of celebrity spottings, tours, show taping, live podcast, and more!

Believe it or not, this trip was actually planned before our Disney trip was decided. Each year on our trip, we pick the weekend for the next year so that we all keep it open. It seems to be the only way to allow six different moms to break away from the family for a few nights.

When my family started planning a Disney trip and the month of November was chosen, we worked it so that I wouldn’t have to fly back-and-forth. It couldn’t have been more perfect as my friends got off the same plane that my family got on at the airport.  

We may have been in the same city but the two trips were very different. 

From the very beginning, we really wanted to go and see some live show tapings. Our first choice was Ellen, but sadly we didn’t get tickets. Sara and I tried twice with different entries using different email addresses and were unsuccessful. Little did we know at the time we’d have many other opportunities during the week that made up for it.  

The first day was jam packed with excitement, so much so that we barely found time to eat! The first thing we did was a bus tour at TMZ where we saw many locations were others saw celebrities, HA!   My favorite part of the trip is when we drove by the hotel where pretty woman was filmed, that is One of my favorite movies of all time, and I think I’m due for a re-watch! I’m really happy we did the tour as we saw many parts of Hollywood that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise, but I’m not in a rush to do it again.

After the tour, we strolled the boulevard for a bit before it was time to get in line for Jimmy Kimmel Live. The thing with getting tickets is that you sign up two months in advance but you don’t actually find out if you got tickets until two weeks before (sometimes less!) and still when you accept the tickets you don’t know who the guest are going to be. The Jimmy Kimmel guests were Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, among other things) and Camila Morrone (Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriend, among other things). I had no idea who are the guest were, but the show was amazing and we walked away with a one year subscription to Disney+! 

What I found interesting that was for a one hour show, we waited in line for an hour, then we were seated, and waited probably close to another hour before the show started. But because Jimmy Kimmel is live, the taping of the show was actually only an hour.

James took the picture below of our TV screen the same night that it taped. While all six of us were at the show, only Dee and I were on air for this scene. James couldn’t spot us in the crowd during the show, but we could see ourselves given we knew where our seats were.

You may think that after Kimmel we decided to head back to the hotel room, but you would be wrong. Instead 4 of us headed to a live taping of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s podcast, Off The Vine. This was a last-minute addition to our agenda. We literally bought tickets the night before the show.

Believe it or not, this was my favorite part of the LA leg of the trip. While some of you may not know, Kaitlyn Bristow is a former Bachelorette and I listen to her podcast quite regularly. Interestingly enough, she wasn’t my favorite person on the stage that night. Her guest was Nick Viall , a former Bachelor, and also one of my favorites. He has a pod cast, The Viall Files, that I sometimes listen to though admittedly it is not my favorite. The best part is, that when we bought the tickets we didn’t actually know who the guest was, you can imagine the squealing from all of us when we found out Nick was the guest. On top of that, Blake from Bachelor in Paradise was the guest DJ, and Demi even made an appearance.  It was a super fun night filled with wine, laughter, and a whole lot of fan girling!

After a very hectic first day in LA we toned it down a bit for day two. The main event was to attend a taping of the Kelly Clarkson show which is brand new this season. I remember watching American Idol the year that she won and love her music so it was exciting to see her live.  She starts each episode by singing a song and that day her song was Bitter Sweet Symphony bu The Verve.  I remember this song well from my younger years and in particular for being in the movie Cruel Intentions which even she said she thought of when she sang.

Her guests were Kristen Bell, the voice of Anna, and Ne-Yo, who I'd never heard of. I really enjoyed the taping of her show and the format. The guests stayed on stage as the next guest was introduced and she engaged with both of them at the same time including a cooking session with Ne-Yo. Kelly Clarkson was very “normal“ and exactly how I would expect her to be.

There were some differences between the taping of this show and the live Jimmy Kimmel show. The breaks were substantially longer and she had an entire team come out to prep her for the next segment.  This included lint roller’s, make up people, hair people, and entire entourage fixing her up for air. It was interesting to see how scripted the show.  There was a woman standing out of view that had potential questions that Kelly should be asking her guest to lead them in a certain direction. It wasn’t just the show that I enjoyed, but seeing the whole process behind the scenes.

After the taping, a few of us headed to a taping of the sitcom, the Connors, and the other half of us headed back to Melrose Ave. to browse some shops and had a little fun with all the murals along the way. See picture above.

Sunday morning, our Uber was booked for 7 AM, which meant a very early start to the day. We had a Warner Bros. tour booked for 8:30 AM to maximize our last full day in LA. The highlight of the tour by far was sitting on the couch of the friends set. The show was such a big part of my adolescence and I watched it for years with these exact girls, so it just felt right to experience it with them.

Deena picked us a great hotel in Santa Monica right on the ocean, which Arnold Schwarzenegger dined at every morning... though we only spotted him once. We looked at the pier every morning as we hopped in our Uber and headed to our destination saying we were going to visit the pier soon.  Finally on our last day, a mere two hours before the sunset, we headed on a walk to the Santa Monica pier. It was a beautiful night, the sunset was beautiful, and the pier was crowded. Now that I’ve rekindled my love of roller coasters I actually wanted to go on the roller coaster at the pier but we were afraid the line would be too long so I passed. It really was a great way to say goodbye to LA.

This was a perfect trip for us. From celebrity watching to just the right amount of shopping, it was perfect! I have no doubt we will be talking about this experience for years to come. There’s always something about spending time with my oldest friends that makes my heart happy. Not everyone can say that they still spend time with their best friend from kindergarten or their roommates from University, but I can say both! I am so fortunate to call all of these women my friends. I think the Golden girls said it best when they said “thank you for being my friend“.

Happy 40th birthday to us all!

Celebrating Cooper

This kid…

I should have known that when I asked Cooper who he wanted to invite to his birthday party that he would have a list longer than my arm! This kid is a social butterfly, and being the kind kid that he is, he doesn’t want to exclude anyone from the celebration. So when his list got to 17 kids, including him and Grady, I agreed, assuming that there would be a few kids that couldn’t make it. Not this year, we had 100% attendance and 17 kids all present to celebrate Cooper’s birthday.

He had hockey friends, school friends, neighborhood friends, and family friends all gather together at one big bouncy castle place, and the rest is history.  

He chose the same place that Grady had his birthday. It’s a great place but it is a 40 minute drive to get there. And different from Grady‘s, we didn’t have to place to ourselves. It wasn’t crazy like I imagine the Saturday would be, but it certainly wasn’t empty like Grady‘s party in June.

However, exactly like Grady’s, the kids were red-faced and sweating within 10 minutes. Him and his hockey friends all had to miss a Hockey practice and I promise to parents that they would get more cardio at the birthday party then they would get at the full life hockey practice they missed! And it turned out I was right! One of his teammates approached me and told me he was so wet that it felt like he had showered… Success!

Despite how loud, crazy, chaotic, and expensive the party was, seeing this kid interact with his friends and that big smile on his face, makes it all worthwhile.

Given that we were away on Cooper‘s actual birthday this year bracket [more on this to come later], we celebrated Cooper the week prior and the celebration kept going and going and going. The same weekend that we celebrated with his friends we also celebrated with Jameses family with brunch and presence. I love the look on his face as he opened the jewelry box and found a gold chain inside from nana. It’s not easy to capture a big smile on his face and this smile is 100% genuine.

After brunch we returned home and we gave Cooper our presents. He was a tough kid to buy for this year. At that stage in between toys and not really sure what he wants. He knew he wanted shoes, and you’ll notice that he has two different shoes on his feet in the photo below while he tried to decide which pair to keep. As an aside, he kept the white ones. I also went out on a limb and bought him the Air Jordan jacket and it was a success. Another successful year of present shopping for the boys which let me tell you is not an easy feat! I’m dreading shopping for Christmas presents already…

And just like that I have a happy nine-year-old With some birthday money burning a hole in his pocket. I hope he enjoyed his birthday as much as I enjoyed spoiling him.

Happy birthday Cooper!

Happy 9th Birthday Cooper!

Dear Cooper,

It is hard for me to believe that you are already 9.  Nine years ago today, you completed our family on a rainy night.  You have a BIG personality.  You are a confident, loud, vibrant young man and the only child that anyone every says looks even a little bit like me.  While you probably don't love hearing that you look like your Mom, it makes me so proud.  Sometimes you remind me of myself when I was your age, the funny, social kid that doesn't like to hug.  Heck, that is still me!  Cooper, I look forward to celebrating you today and all year long.

Let me tell you a little bit about your 9 year old self.

You are in Grade 3.  For the first time ever you have been separated from both of your best friends.  But no surprise to us, you came home on the first day of school telling us you made a new friend.  It certainly didn't take long.

Hockey is your jam.  After our tournament in Cranbrook last month I asked you what your favorite part was and you looked at me like I was crazy and said the hockey, obviously.  I just assumed it would be the pool or running around the hotel with your friends.

We've fully embraced that you are a defense men.  You are slowly gaining confidence in taking those rushes and going for the net.  Though when asked to play forward you still say no.  You look good on defense Coopman, keep it up!

As for food, you still have a jam sandwich almost every day.  You don't like pizza but you'll eat it if that is all there is. You have a sweet tooth like your mom but you like sushi like your dad.  Your favorite is the orange fish egg, I think its called ikura.  I can't get you to eat vegetables but you'll eat raw fish.  Weird.

You take after your Dad in the language department.  I am constantly reminding you to stop using bad words.  I hope that you don't develop a serious case of road rage like your father…..

You are SO SO loud.  You are known as the loudest in the dressing room.  Though sometimes you scream like a little girl and it hurts our ears.  For the most part the loudness comes when you get excited and especially when you are around your friends.

You are not a toucher.  You don't hold my hand, you don't hug, but you may give me a kiss in the morning if I ask for one.  The fact that you don't like them doesn't mean I don't give them anyway.  Especially at bed time.

We've moved past Fortnite and currently you are into Tik Tok.  I don't really get it but you spend a lot of time making videos around the house and telling us to be quiet. Check him out at @Coopmanyt and give him a follow.  He checks it daily.

You are not a cryer.  When you shed tears, we know you are really hurt.  Thankfully it doesn't happen often.

You all of a sudden started caring about your appearance.  Let's start with the hair.  In the spring you spotted a mohawk mullet and immediately aspired to grow one.  It has been several months since then and you've finally grown a defined mullet much to your mother's dismay.  It took telling the hairdresser at the last appointment to NOT touch the back, not even a little.  Why is it that hairdressers don't understand the word trim, and in this case, do not cut at all.  The 2 cuts prior they still trimmed the back despite direct instruction not to.  Insert eye roll.

The other item you've become passionate about are your chains.  Yes, plural.  You ordered one on amazon in the spring and you've worn one every single day since.  You have gold ones, silver ones, think ones, thin ones.  Sometimes you where 1 and some times you layer them up. It has become your signature item.  As a fashionista myself, I can appreciate your unique tastes.

You stay up to late, but that's mostly our fault.  It is always after 9 and sometimes as late as 10.  The good news is that you always go to sleep easily.  You don't want me to stay, you just want to go to sleep.  You are and always have been a dream to put to sleep.

You still sleep with bunny and I take pictures more often then I care to admit.  I can't get enough pictures of you hugging bunny every. single. night.  I will never throw bunny away. Maybe when you are done with her I'll keep her in my bed.  She is no longer soft and fluffy like she once was but she has more character just the way she is.

You are wise beyond your years. You seem so much older than most of your peers.  Probably because you have an older brother.  You have no problems fitting in with him and his friends and even invited a few of them to your birthday party.

You are such a kind friend.  You don't leave anyone out and don't have a mean bone in your body.  I've literally never heard you say a bad thing about anyone.

You are responsible.  Your teachers always say you are the best helper and very reliable.  You are my child that wants to stay by himself when his older brother will still not consider it!  You are wise beyond your years young man.

Cooper I love watching you grow and change each year.  You continue to amaze me with your confident and charming personality.  You are going to big things.  Big, HUGE.

Happy Birthday to you, my baby boy.

Love,

Mom

Will Bike for Beer

A few months back I started thinking about how I wanted to celebrate my 40th birthday.  I wanted to do something special that was not something I would do regularly, something unique and fun that I would always remember.  Last spring we did a test bike on Urban Pedal Tours, on one of the first Calgary rides, and it was so much that it seemed like the perfect way to celebrate with 19 of my best friends.

So while I was the one to plan and organize the ride, my friends surprised me with these matching shirts!  They were perfect!  Surprisingly, Travis, our tour guide, said we were the first ride to ever wear matching shirts.  Let me tell you, us 40 year olds know how to do it right!

Sadly, we forgot to offer Travis a shirt until after the ride was over.  His shirt, I earned this beer, was pretty sweet to, and trust me, we certainly earned our beers as well.

This bike is harder than it looks to operate.  There is no motor, so if you don't pedal, it doesn't move.  The first round I sat at the back and heard Travis tell the ladies up front that being at the back is the hardest. I certainly agreed, at this point I felt like I was doing a stand up spin class and was starting to sweat.  A lot.

Next round I sat front and center because that is supposed to be the easiest, and I was still sweating.  I'm pretty sure I was the only one pedaling the bike.  Ha!  The bike does have a brake though.  When I was sitting up front and we approached the back of the car I casually asked if we had a brake, I was getting a little worried as we rolled up!

At each stop we had exactly enough time for one drink.  Or one drink that you ordered and a shooter that someone else ordered for you.  I went into the afternoon with a 4 drink limit and I think I past that after the first stop.  Oops.

We weren't having any fun at all....

It was such a great afternoon.  It was like a wedding of sorts.  It isn't very often you get to have all your friends in the same place at once.

#forty

This week I turned 40.  I wasn't looking forward to it.  I like the sound of 39 way better than I like the  sound of 40.  Yet, I've watched many of my friends join the club this year, what is the big deal?  Forty sounds old.  I don't feel old.   Until I look at my wedding picture. But as I've told many people in the past month, it is just another day.  I was officially one day older than I was the day before.  Not a decade older like it sounds.  

As the big day approached, I found my attitude looking up.  It is a milestone.  Not every one lives to see their 40th birthday and mine came and went.  I spent the morning with my Mom who surprised me with a weekend visit and the rest of the day with my birthday twin celebrating us.

Over 40 years I've accumulated a husband and 2 kids.

I have 40 years of memories.

I have 40 years of friendships.

I have 40 years of accomplishments.

I have 40 years of health.

I have 40 years of happiness.

Over these 40 years I've learned a lot.

I've learned it's okay to say no.

I've learned to not care what others think.  Wear the red lipstick, buy the mini skirt.

I've learned who my real friends are.

I've navigated parenting with some success.

I'm working hard to just be me. Because the me that I am is not so bad.  Even at 40.

Celebrating 11

In typical Christy fashion, I started thinking about Grady birthday party month ago. I wanted him to have a few friends over for pizza and cake, an small activity and a sleepover.  He wanted none of it.  He wanted ALL his friends to be able to celebrate, not just a few, so.... we started planning a party for 10+ boys.  The ideal party is NOT at our house and involves a place where boys can burn energy.  We ultimately decided on Big Fun play center, a place the boys had been to with their Grandma but that we had never been.  All I knew that it was super duper far and I felt uber bad about making all the parents drive 40 minutes to celebrate Grady.  So we drove almost all of them.

Like usual, Nana made Grady's cake with love, and a lot of yummy icing!  This year Grady chose a Fortnite themed cake. Of course.  If you don't know Fortnite, you don't have a boy over 8 years old!!!

Grady still humors me and does a little photo shoot with me and the cake.  And the birthday hat.  This is a tradition we started almost a decade ago and one that I love.  If it's your birthday, you wear the hat!

We pulled up in the parking of Big Fun and I was immediately happy to see an empty parking lot. Was it possible that the place was going to be quiet.  I forgot to mention that we planned Grady's party on a Friday night and I think that is why the place was empty.  We literally had the place to ourselves.

The place is a warehouse full of bouncy castles and apparently a place where kids run in and never come out.  And when they do they are sweaty and stinky. 

This one was my favorite.  It reminds me of that show Wipeout.  You have to duck under the high one then jump over the low one.  I tried this one and my thighs started to burn.  Did I mention adults get to use the facility for free?

They also had a bull ride.  I'll spare you the pathetic video of me riding if for less than 7 seconds.  It was way harder then it looks!

In total we had 12 kids celebrate with us.  They filled up on pizza, cake, and all you can drink pop.  I tried to limit them to caffeine free but because it was so quiet they let them use the fountain machine where I totally lost control and the kids drank more Fruitopia than I care to admit.  #sorryparents

Here's to another successful year of celebrations kept out of my house.  Ha!

Happy 11th Birthday Grady

Dear Grady,

This year, I've watched you transition from a boy to a preteen.  You have sprouted up and you are almost as tall as me.  Your feet are the same size as mine already!  I've accepted that the days of you being a little boy are behind us.

Instead of being sad about it, I am embracing the special moments that remind me that there is a piece of that little boy buriend within you still.  I love when you hold my hand in the mall. While your brother stopped holding my hand years ago, you reach for mine often.

I love that you still want me to lay with you and cuddle before bed.  While this used to be an annoyance, I am so aware of how few of these cuddle sessions I have left.  If you ask, I stay.

I love that you trust me with your secrets.  I will always be there to listen.

We are getting a glimpse of the young man that you are becoming, and so far I like what I see.

Let me tell you a little about your 11 year old self.

You seem to have hit a growth spurt.  You are almost as tall as me and you are currently bulking up.  I'm sure any day your are going to spout up like a weed.

Crushes are still a hot topic of conversation at our house.  They are often used as swear words in our house and punishments are handed out for shouting the names out in public or to taunt your brother for no reason.  I don't remember ever having these issues growing up.  What we've learned this year is to never tell your brother, or anyone, who your crush is because it may haunt you forever.

You have an anxious personality.  You come by it honestly as I do as well.  I think it mostly affects your sleep but I also see that you do not like new situations or anything dangerous.  When I asked you if you want to play in the NHL you told me you are quitting hockey when hitting starts. I've started to see improvements this year but I this may just be a part of your personality that sticks with you into adulthood. That is okay to.

The sleeping situation at our house has improved marginally.  At this time last year you wanted me to stay in your room until you were sleeping.  Now you will let me slip away to the Castle (our bonus room named  the Castle) when you are awake as long as I check on you.  To some this may sound bad but at least I can watch tv and do other things other than lay in a dark room....  Maybe by next year you won't need me upstairs at all.  Fingers crossed.

I was able to go to Fort Steele with your grade 5 class and I thought that our Frank Slide trip was going to be tough to beat, I was wrong.  I had just as much fun but worked 10 times harder.  I hope that you'll always be happy to have me on your trips because I plan to come on many more!

We were so proud of you for making Atom 1 this hockey season.  You decided you wanted it and you went out and got it.  It was amazing to see you put your mind to something and succeed.  You are such a great little skater and a little more aggression on the ice would take you a long way, but that is just not who you are.  I love that you have that shy and sensitive side even if it doesn't help you on the ice!

This was a different spring for you as your friends decided to play sports other than soccer leaving you on a team by yourself.  If it were your brother I wouldn't have been concerned, but you are on the quieter side and not always quick to make new friends.  It turned out I didn't need to worry, you ended up with one hockey team mate on your team and didn't care that you didn't know anyone else.  You like playing soccer and you are easily one of the top 3 players on your team.  Dad is coaching you again and I secretly think you both loving being on the field together.

One year later and you are still Fortnite obsessed.  We have constant fights about your language when you are gaming.  I don't understand why you insist on acting like a crazy person yelling and using bad language when you lose or when I ask you to get off. It is still a constant struggle to minimize screen time.

In the worst situations you end up spending a significant amount of time in your room which gives you anxiety as I described above.  And because you don't like to be in your room it causes more of a meltdown.  These can last well over an hour which isn't great for you or I.  This is another thing I hope ends this year given you are almost my size and I can't physically make you do anything you don't want to do, including staying in your room.

This year, in addition to video games, you've discovered a love of board games, monopoly is a favorite, much to your Dad's delight.  My favorites are Battleship and Clue but you strongly prefer the money driven games.

Your palate is weird.  You eat sushi but not fruit.  I have no idea how you get your nutrients.

You've started walking to the bus stop on your own this year and it has been such a step in the right direction for you. The first time I watched you walk down the driveway solo my heart wasn't sure if it was proud or sad.  Proud of you for doing something that made you nervous or sad that it meant you were growing up.  My fave part of Monday is when I hear you punch in the door code and walk through the door calling my name.  You are growing up so fast!

You still do not like to be home alone.  While some of your friends are more than ready you still have some fears that are holding you back.  You will stay home if I have to run Jasmin to the train station or if I have to quickly grab milk from the corner store, but anything longer than that and you aren't interested.  You'd rather keep me company, even if I have to go for groceries!  We are trying to leave you in small increments to increase our confidence but this is not something we are pushing until you are ready.

You still have the same group of friends that you've had since grade 1.  I love how you maintain your friendships, it reminds me of how much I value my own friendships.  With that being said, I love to see how you've made new friends at hockey and in our neighbors.  After years of being more timid, your circle is finally starting to expand.

It turns out that you may be more like me than i thought.  When I went to interviews this year the teachers both commented that you are a social butterfly.  I wondered if we were talking about the same kid.  She said you like talking to your friends, sometimes when you shouldn't.  To me that means that you are comfortable with your classmates and your teacher.  While I don't like that you are talking out of turn, I love to hear you have that chatty side, just like your mom.

You like to read, but only books you've read before or new books from series you know you love.  I can't convince you to read a book that is brand new to you.  There are so many books out there, I need to find a way to make you start reading them!

You are my cuddly kid.  You like to snuggle before bed and will even hold my hand in public.  You care about others feelings and would never do anything deliberate to hurt someone.  Except your brother.

You want a dog something fierce.  We've come close a few times but to date we are still a dogless family.  I am not sure if I want a dog but one of the biggest reason I am open to it is because I know how happy you and your brother want one.  

Sleeping in is finally happening.  And by sleeping in, I mean sometime in the 8s but I still vividly remember getting up with you in the 5s for so many years.  There are some mornings that I get up BEFORE you. I literally thought this day would never come.

Keep being you because I love the you that you are.

Happy 11h birthday Grady.

Love,

Mom