Vacations Blog

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

Here is my Thursday Thirteen list, a suggestion of things to do with tweens in L.A. I thought up most of it at the mall last week, as I was waiting outside a store for my two tween girls to emerge with their purchases. It’s amazing what you can get accomplished in seven hours.

1. Hot Topic - This could really cover items 1 – 13 on this list, since as far as my two girls are concerned there isn’t any need to venture anywhere else. Give them a backpack full of snacks and a fully-charged cell phone and they could probably stay in there for weeks spending my hard earned cash on Juno t-shirts and black glitter nail polish.

2. Art Museums – We’ve been taking our kids to art museums since they were babies, but it’s gotten particularly entertaining lately to hear their expert commentary. It’s always amusing to hear things like, “OMG – naked!” when standing before a majestic sculpture by Rodin, or “I TOTALLY want that for my new bunk bed comforter” while contemplating a canvas by Jackson Pollack.

3. Soup Kitchen –I’ve never actually visited a soup kitchen with my tweens, but it’s something all the PC parenting guides say you should do in order to teach your kids to be grateful for what they have. In all honesty, I’m not sure how my two girls would fare – I’d really be embarrassed if they sat down at a table, waited for a menu and then asked the homeless guy sitting next to them if he recommends the buffalo wings or the grilled cheese.

4. The movies – Any movie will do. Just sitting in a nice cool theater chowing down on hot buttered popcorn and Junior Mints is enough to keep them happy. The 9 – 12 year old set aren’t very discerning moviegoers; In fact, it may be the only time you’ll hear “Garfield: The Movie” and “awesome” in the same sentence.

5. Target – Maybe this is only applicable to tween girls, but mine love the aisles filled with cheap loot, cds and video games. Also, lots of eco t-shirts that say things like ‘Tree Hugger’ which is apparently all the rage now. You might just get them to listen to your Hendrix albums after all.

6. Yogurt shop – Yogurt is the new black. Menchies is our favorite, but Pinkberry or any other one will do. But try and take them to Baskin-Robbins and be prepared for much eye-rolling as they’re forced to mingle with the four-year-olds enjoying a scoop of Shrek Swirl with their grandpas.

7. Starbucks – This is the new version of sneaking a sip of your mom’s wine when you were seven. Tweens like the idea of sipping a grown-up coffee drink (I order decaf for mine) and it’s great for coffee addicts like me who can get their daily fix guilt-free. You know, it’s for the children.

8. Bowling Alley – They may last for one game of bowling, but what they really want to do is head to the arcade for some DDR (Dance Dance Revolution for you total squares.) Bring a bat or rolled-up newspaper if you have girls, though – the last time I was there a small crowd of teen boys gathered to watch my daughters and their friends bouncing around to the music until I shooed them away.

9. California Pizza Kitchen –According to the highly scientific poll I conducted with my girls and their friends while driving back from the mall in my van last week, this is the sanctioned eatery to dine with your parents. Added bonus – it’s the only place they don’t feel embarrassed about ordering from the kids menu since “the macaroni and cheese, like, rules.”

10. The Library – Believe it or not, tweens are rediscovering the library, mainly for the treasure trove of manga books they have there. At $9.99 each, it gets expensive to keep buying them at Barnes & Noble. However, do not even suggest they try out any of the library-sponsored teen events such as cupcake making or scrapbooking – you may as well tell them to invite their crowd over for a rousing game of rummy.

11. The beach – The beach is ideal for tweens and their unpredictable moods. They can indulge both their sloth-ly instincts by laying on their towels all day, or burn off energy by hitting the waves for some boogie-boarding. Also, the close proximity of a snack bar serving pizza and every variety of greasy, deep fried food will make them think they’ve died and gone to heaven

12. The park – My girls are just starting to notice boys, and members of the opposite sex are in abundance here, especially during soccer season. Bring along that bat that you took to the bowling alley

13. At home, with their parents – They’re not going to want to be seen with their dad and me for long, so we’re savoring all these days just hanging out together. So what if they roll their eyes when I suggest the fifth game of CandyLand?

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

I’ve been asked by the editors to participate in a meme called Thursday Thirteen. Coming up with thirteen of anything seemed impossible at first, unless you asked me to list the number of ways I can order a cappuccino at Starbucks.

But then I remembered a dilemma I face almost daily living in Los Angeles, the land of the Perpetually Primped. How can I, a working mom, go out in public with the least amount of personal grooming? And most importantly, avoid running into anyone I know lest they judge my haggard appearance? After all, this is L.A., where most women wouldn’t dare leave the house without lipstick, two coats of mascara and a Botox injection – and that’s just to get the mail.

Thursday Thirteen – Thirteen Places You Can Go In Los Angeles Without Makeup

1. The ‘scary’ grocery story in your neighborhood. I prefer our local downtrodden market to the more upscale version located a few blocks closer. So what if all the cashiers are missing half their teeth? It’s worth it if I don’t have to run into any of those moms glowing after their seaweed peels and three-hour facials.
2. Art-house movie at any Laemmle Theater – Although it appears that my highbrow taste is the motivation for attending subtitled films about lonely cobblers finding love during WWII, the real reason is there’s not a chance that any of the other three people in the theater is someone I know.
3. Chuck E. Cheese – My kids outgrew this place years ago, but I still long for those days of being able to blend in with the other hundred frantic, pasty-faced parents scarfing down pizza while their toddlers run wild.
4. Jury Duty – If you’re trying to get out of serving, appearing as unkempt as possible will work in your favor here. No one’s going to want you deciding the fate of another human being when you look like someone who can’t even brush their own hair.
5. The Car Wash – This only applies to those venues that let you stay in your vehicle while your van hits the suds. Resist the temptation to get out and pick up another fake-pine air freshener or pair of cheap sunglasses.
6. Gas Stations – I try to look as unattractive as possible when pumping gas, in order to discourage panhandling. However, I was given five bucks by a homeless guy once and told to go get a good haircut.
7. Any 7-Eleven – For obvious reasons.
8. Bally’s Total Fitness, Between 11pm and 6am ONLY – Trying to get on a treadmill during normal business hours without a full face of makeup in L.A. will result in a severe ass-kicking by other gym patrons forced to stare at your ugly mug.
9. Any fast food drive-thru – No one will ever see you ordering your super-sized monster taco meal while looking like you just woke up from a fifty-year nap.
10. Target, Sepulveda Blvd. in Van Nuys – This Target is a mecca for overworked, overwhelmed parents and it shows. I feel right at home amongst the tattered-sweatpants crowd. Drive over the hill to Sunset and Vine, though, and every single person looks like they’re from the cast of The Hills.
11. The Dry Cleaners – What person in their right mind would get gussied up to pick up a bunch of sweaters?
12. Ross Dress For Less, Mervins, Marshalls or anywhere else you can get a coat for under ten dollars – See #7
13. Sorry, but there really are only twelve places in L.A. that you can go looking like a hag.

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

If you haven’t already, chances are you’ll soon be receiving one of those tax rebate checks from the government, intended to “stimulate our economy.” I think that’s just fancy talk for “buy lots of stuff” and I plan to do just that. Not sure how to spend yours? If you’re coming to L.A., there are many ways, depending on who you talk to…

If you’re my husband, the first stop would be Amoeba Records in Hollywood. I’m not sure what happens, but immediately after walking through the doors of this cavernous record store he gets a glazed look in his eyes and then disappears for hours, lost in the aisles of vintage vinyl and import cds. I’m betting if he had a supply of water and granola bars in his pocket he could stay in there for weeks at a time.

His next stop would be Guitar Center on Sunset. Even though it’s a chain, apparently the only true Guitar Center experience can be found in its flagship store in Hollywood. I have to agree, since from what I’ve seen the metal rockers there really do have the biggest hair.

My tween daughters would have a totally different plan for their windfall. (This of course, would be a fantasy sequence, where children actually had a say in how their parents’ tax rebate checks were spent.) They’d grab their Hello Kitty purses and head straight to Sugoi Life in Northridge, a mecca for anyone who loves manga and anything Japanese. They’d buy a few Pokémon figures, indulge in some Pocky Sticks (thin wafer sticks dipped in chocolate) and buy at least one plushy from their favorite movie, Totoro.

Then they’d talk me into driving across town to Menchies, where they would get the large, not the small, size of frozen yogurt. It’s a serve yourself place, where you dispense any one of their eight flavors of yogurt (they change daily) and then pile on your toppings, everything from caramel sauce to fresh fruit to Cap’n Crunch. They charge by weight, and with the remainder of the stimulus check burning a hole in their pockets my girls would heap on the gummi bears like there was no tomorrow. I’m thinking each of their cups would weigh fourteen pounds.

As for me, I hate to admit it but I would go straight to Target and spend at least half of that check. But for once, I wouldn’t spend it on detergent, or toothpaste, or Swiffer cloths or anything even remotely practical. No, I’d spend it all on myself – purses, clothes, big rings and that cute Mizrahi jacket I was eyeing the last time I was there buying detergent.

With what is leftover I would make a no-holds-barred trip to a good sushi restaurant, either Yabu or Matsuda. Usually I restrain myself from ordering too much since the bill at either of these pricey joints can easily run up into the hundreds. But with that rebate check sitting pretty in my new Target bag, I wouldn’t have to choose between the spicy tuna with jalapeño or the Kobe beef tataki – I could order it all.

How will you spend your rebate check?