Average Jane

Win A Book from Average Jane!

Okay, this is the last of my random giveaways of books I bought too many copies of. (Don't you love the way I put my English degree to such good use?)

This week's giveaway book is "Sleep is for the Weak: The best of the mommybloggers including Amalah, Finslippy, Fussy, Woulda Coulda Shoulda, Mom-101, and more." I ended up buying three copies: one for me, one for my sister and one...for no good reason I could think of once I got three. Just supporting the team, I guess.

So my over-ordering is your opportunity! To enter, just leave a comment on this post. I'll choose a winner next Monday.

Also, keep an eye out for your favorite parenting bloggers from the book at signings in various cities throughout the rest of the summer and fall.

Average Jane Knows Her Christmas Carols

Here's a quiz from the Chicago Tribune: So you think you know carols?

I got 92%, which I thought was pretty good considering that there are a few wildcards in there.

Take the quiz and tell me how you did!

Average Jane On Location

Wednesday started out with a lovely continental breakfast overlooking the hotel pool. Fortunately, I was reunited with both my camera and a jacket that I'd left in one of the vehicles the previous day.

We paired up again to take the Ford Escapes about 30 minutes outside of town to Disney's Golden Oak Ranch. I got to drive again - this time in one of the hybrids. It didn't have quite the pickup of the non-hybrid I'd driven the day before, but later I noticed that the first one I'd driven had a V-6, which explained the difference.

The ranch was the shooting location for one of Ford's Contestant 51 short films that they do in conjunction with "On the Lot." The idea is that a young director named Colin Padden (played by actor Steven Siddell, who reminds me of a young Dana Carvey) didn't quite make the cut for "On the Lot," but  decides to take the show's weekly theme and make his own films anyway.

What we saw of the ranch included a Western town facade, complete with a short length of railroad tracks and a picturesque pond with a dock. We spent the morning and early afternoon watching the production crew film three different scenes, including one in which a stunt driver races into town and stops with a dramatic partial spin-out. We got to share the crew's craft services lunch (there were hints that the food was a notch above the usual fare because we were there), and talk to the executive producer and cast.

Once we got back to the hotel, we had just enough time to wash off a little of the ranch grit before we were off on a photo road rally. I teamed up with Megan and Liz and ended up driving the same silvery-blue Escape Hybrid I'd taken that morning. The route included a trip into the hills for a photo with the Hollywood sign in the background, a twisty trip down Mulholland Drive to a scenic overlook of L.A., a stop on Rodeo drive for a photo with the Via Rodeo sign, a chili dog at Pink's Hot Dogs, and, finally, a walk down Hollywood Boulevard past Grauman's Chinese Theatre after we'd returned the SUV to the hotel lot.

I took lots of photos and I'll put them up on Flickr as soon as I've had the opportunity to address some of my photographic incompetence in Photoshop. The idea is that we'll put all of our photos on our own blogs for judging, but I haven't decided if I'm going to officially enter because of my long-standing policy of not putting photos of myself or anything including my real name on this blog.

The rally took longer than anyone had anticipated, but we had time to change clothes and freshen up before it was time to walk across the street for dinner at Vert. The meal was lovely, but I couldn't eat the whole thing after the huge chili dog I'd had a few hours earlier.

Because I had adjusted to the local time since the previous day, I made it to the poolside cocktail party at the hotel after dinner. It was nice to have one last chance to talk to the other bloggers, and the Ford and Hill & Knowlton reps.

I finally turned in around 1:30 a.m. Frankly, I don't know how I managed to stay up so long.

So that's the basic outline of the events. Tomorrow I'll add a few details to some of the activities and try to sum up the experience.

Average Jane On the Lot

Yesterday was my first whirlwind day of the Ford Great Escape blogger extravaganza. My husband drove me to the airport and I immediately learned that my flight was delayed by at least a half an hour. Oh goody. That meant I wouldn't get into L.A. until noon. Strangely enough, I ended up sitting with a co-worker and his family on the flight.

Once we landed, I made my way down to baggage claim, where I was met by a young woman holding a sign with my name on it. I felt bad that she'd probably been standing there for an extra 30 minutes or so.

A car service brought me to the Roosevelt Hotel, where I received a packet of information about our itinerary, everything you'd ever want to know about the Ford Escape and Ford Escape Hybrid, and a huge name badge/itinerary on a lanyard.

My room wasn't ready, so I checked my suitcase with the bellman and dragged my laptop case (also full of books), up to the penthouse for lunch. I sat with Jen of Jen is Famous, Alex and Stefan of Elephant Larry, Liz of Everyday Goddess, Brian of Welcome to Tardville, Michelle Kenobi Osorio (who is videoblogging the event at Stage6.com) and one of the Ford marketing executives. Michelle and I have blue-highlighted hair in common.

After we ate, we got a quick introduction to Ford's current marketing programs, including their Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson partnership and their Boredom Hurts campaign site. Then we paired up and drove Escapes to CBS Studios for our behind-the-scenes tour at On the Lot. I drove a black non-hybrid one, accompanied by Michelle Osorio. We ignored the GPS, followed the map we'd been given, and took a wind-y, scenic route to the studio.

They weren't kidding about behind the scenes. We toured the entire office, all throughout the soundstage and even inside the mobile control room, thanks to executive producer David Goffin. Everyone was very friendly and seemed happy to take time out to talk to a bunch of bloggers, even though their production schedule is crazy.

Then we all ended up in the studio audience for the live show. I wasn't expecting that or I might have rethought my wardrobe choices. As it was, the production crew decided that my "Rick's Cafe" shirt from Jamaica was too noticeable on camera and might represent a copyrighted image that they were unwilling to show, so I had to borrow a jacket from one of the PR reps and cover it up.

Until now, my sole TV studio experience had been answering the phones during the pledge drive at the local public broadcasting station. This was considerably different. The set was really beautiful and far more substantial-looking than I would have expected. Even in places that never show up on camera, there are framed movie posters for the contestants' previous films.

Once we were seated, Mark Burnett came over. He seemed like a down-to-earth guy and talked about how America is a country where people value results. He brushed off praise about his status as one of the top risk-taking producers and said he'd learned that a pat on the back and a kick in the balls are more or less the same. The effects of both are short-lived. (That's a paraphrase - I'd stopped taking notes by then.) He seemed genuinely charmed when Liz Rizzo gave him one of her "Living the Dream" stickers.

Liz, an aspiring filmmaker, really impressed me with her gung-ho networking while we were at the studio. She already knew several people who work on the show and she did an amazing job of expanding her circle while she had the chance.

The broadcast was fascinating to watch. My hands started hurting from clapping on command by the time we reached the halfway mark. Before we left the stage area, we got a chance to quickly interview the program judges Gary Ross, Penny Marshall and Carrie Fisher, and host Adrianna Costa.

Afterwards, we went to a cocktail party in the bungalow area where the contestants live throughout the run of the show (at least until they're eliminated). We were told that the part of the lot where we were standing was once the Gilligan's Island set and that the koi pond is all that remains of the lagoon. The koi pond part sounded a little too neat, but it was cool to think of all of the shows that had been filmed at the studio over the years.

We got to meet the five filmmakers who are still in the running and they later joined us for cocktails and dinner at Social Hollywood.

By the time we got back from dinner it was nearly 11:00 p.m. L.A. time, which meant it was getting close to 1:00 a.m. my time. I finally got my room key and big bag o' schwag from Ford. It was a thrill just to be able to stop lugging around my laptop bag.

My room is huge and very modern. I'd take a picture, but I somehow got separated from my camera last night. I'm guessing it may have fallen out of my purse in the car when I was on my way home from dinner, but I might have taken it out during check-in and left it on the counter. I hope I find it.

I called my husband when I got to the room because I knew he'd be awake. There was yet another cocktail party out by the hotel pool, but I'd had all I could take. I checked my e-mail and went to bed. 

More fun activities await today, but first I need to do a solid yoga practice to try to undo the laptop bag damage done to my shoulders. More later!

Average Jane Goes Camping

Sorry for the late post, but I woke up this morning in a tent at a campground 200 miles from home.

We'd been planning the camping/river rafting expedition for more than a month, but the weather reports at the end of last week were rather worrisome.  There was much mention of severe thunderstorms, hail and high winds, and the fact that it had rained for days at home was not reassuring.  Still, everyone was game to head out on Saturday, even if it meant we might get rained on all weekend long. 

Three couples and I left on Saturday afternoon and we made it to camp in the late afternoon.  The sky was clear and it was warm and humid as we put up four tents and a canopy around our campsite.  I wasn't willing to wait for the campfire to be ready for cooking, so I grilled my chicken kebabs and corn on the cob over my propane grill.  We had a lovely evening sitting around the fire chatting, drinking beer and cooking.

On Sunday, we took a 7 mile canoe trip down the river.  I rented a kayak, which meant that other people had to put my drinks and lunch in their cooler.  The kayak was a BLAST!  It was very maneuverable and I got the hang of paddling it very quickly.  I often got ahead of the rest of the group, but the kayak was so easy to paddle that I could navigate it back upstream or just sit and float while the others caught up.

After we reached the end point of our trip downriver and took a van ride back to the campground, I was tired and ready to shower and start fixing dinner.  Almost everyone else headed for the riverside area of the camp and played in the water for several more hours.  By the time they returned, the fire was ready for cooking again and we had hot dogs, bratwurst and hamburgers, and I finally toasted a single marshmallow and ate it sandwiched between two chocolate-coated graham crackers.

At 6:45 this morning, we all woke to the sound of distant thunder.  We'd been expecting rain all weekend, but the weather had been absolutely perfect so far.  Suddenly, the idea of being soaked by rain wasn't all that appealing, so we scrambled to break camp and pack the vehicles.  Our timing was perfect.  The second we closed the last truck door, the rain started. 

By the time we made it up the steep, gravel hills out of the campground, rain was pouring down and we could barely see the car in front of us.  We drove to a nearby town and had a delicious and very inexpensive breakfast at a diner, then made it past the rainstorms and back to the city before noon.

I had such a great time on my second camping trip ever that I hope I can manage to go a few more times this summer and fall.  I've decided I need to buy a small tent of my own (I borrowed a faintly dog-scented one this time) and I'll definitely rent a kayak again next time because it was so much fun.

Now that I'm up to date on my blog entries, I'm looking forward to taking a shower without my sandals on and perhaps snuggling with the cats and taking a little nap.  More tomorrow!

Average Jane Goes to the Prom

Despite the fact that I am way too far on the wrong side of 30, I agreed to go to a Valentine's Day prom-themed party last night. My husband's band was playing, so I figured it might be fun.

Of course, the whole thing brought back memories of my real high school prom. I hadn't been very excited about attending it either. My mother gave me a big spiel about, "This is an important milestone in a girl's life..." blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I got a dress, roped in my boyfriend, and went.

I remember a few key things from my high school prom.

1. The minute I walked in the door, I spotted someone else wearing the same dress I was wearing. It did not help that she was wearing a version of my dress that was several sizes smaller than mine.
   
2. My boyfriend (a year younger than I, and from a different school), had not thought to plan beyond procuring a tux, so we had no dinner reservations. We ended up having hamburgers and chocolate malts after prom, which seemed rather lame, even at the time.
   
3. The best-kept secret of prom is that it is BORING, BORING, BORING! At least it is if you don't live near anyone in your school, you're widely thought of as a big geek, and none of the people you do know from school would be caught dead at prom.

Anyway, I'm over it.

So, I went out to the thrift stores yesterday in search of the perfect 80s prom dress. Oh, did I find it! It's a masterpiece of 80s design from Bonwit Teller, covered with tiny black and white checks guaranteed to make it unphotographable. The long sleeves are poofy at the shoulders, which are padded, of course. The waist is gathered from hips to lower ribs, and there's a giant bow across the chest. Best of all, the tulle peeking out from under the skirt is red!

I persuaded my sister to fix my hair in classic 80s poofy style. The big black bow on my head was her idea, too, as was the shocking purple lipstick and the "someone just slapped both my cheeks" blush. I also put on the oh-so-trendy-at-the-time blue eyeliner. I should be embarrassed to admit that the eyeliner stick in question really is left over from when I was in high school. The condition and age of my makeup collection always prompts much disgust and dismay from my sister.

Anyway, I ended up at the prom party very late. As it turns out, that was just as well because I didn't know anybody. Since my husband was occupied with the band and nobody seemed moved to talk to me, I got to play the wallflower. Just like high school all over again!

So, it didn't end up being very much fun. On the other hand, I think that playing dress-up is always kinda fun, so that was one small consolation. I only wish that I'd been surrounded by my own friends in hideous prom attire. That may be my next party theme...