Laura Lohr

Not Just an Alliteration

Grand Opening of Whole Foods Del Mar Wednesday February 27th

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Whole Foods Store Front

Monday night, the brand new Whole Foods store in Del Mar opened its doors for a media event and private peek for at their latest supermarket. Mr. Bear, Allie and I were lucky enough to get an invitation to this exciting event. There was music, food and drink (wine and beer tasting, yes please!), in addition to a well-orchestrated tour of the store.

Whole Foods Allie

Allie enjoyed the sushi the best. She wasn’t excited about going to the grocery store at first. It didn’t take long for her to change her mind with all the wonderful foods they offered.

And as far as coal cooking goes, an electric smoker ain’t all that much difference from grill to grill. It basically all comes down to three factors: size, ventilation, and ease of operation.

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Allison’s TV Debut—A Back to School Fashion Show on Fox

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Thursday was quite a day for little Allison Kate! She had to opportunity to be in a back-to-school fashion show on Fox channel 5, here in San Diego. We had to arrive early—well, 7:30—which is extremely early since we have been on summer break! The back-to-school fashion show segment did not air until 8:30. I had no trouble getting my little fashionista up bright and early. She was so excited!

When we arrived, we were lead back to the green room, which was something of organized chaos. There was hair, make-up, and outfit coordination going on everywhere. It seemed like there were so many kids, but I think there were only 15-20. Allison was given these cute gold skinny jeans and she was absolutely in love with them. Can you see it in the look in her face? LOVE!

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She felt so good about herself! Here she is striking a pose:

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So cute!

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After her outfit was carefully coordinated, they sent us out to the lobby to wait for the hair and make-up. While we were waiting, Congressman Brian Billbray came through the lobby and said hello to all of us waiting. I thought it was pretty cool, because it is not everyday you get to be on television the same day as your congressman!

It was not long before they came out to get us. Allie hopped up in the chair, sat much more still than she does when I do her hair, then was primped and fussed over.

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There were lots of smiles

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…and lots of contemplation

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So pretty!

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After hair, make-up, and wardrobe, we were sent outside to prepare for the filming. There were so many pieces that had to be in place. There were so many people running around. It seemed like they would never pull off the show. Evidently, it was just another day on the set and everything came together!

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The back lot is not as glamorous as I thought it would be, but somehow they were able to make it look good.

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Here are the news anchors and the fashion designer getting ready for the segment.

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The cameras were everywhere!

Allie was carefully listening to direction and waited patiently until it was her turn.

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Here she is strutting her stuff:

She really was a natural! This was a chance of a lifetime for Allison. She had such a blast!

Here is part one of the segment. Allison comes in about 5 minutes, 30 seconds or about 1 minute, 15 seconds before the end:

There is not much on part two, but here is that segment:

The Summer I Became a Carny Part I

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After graduation from high school, I had relatively little plans. I had aspirations to enroll in college the fall of 1991, however, during the summer I had nothing going on. Nothing. Nada. Up to no good. You know the saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.” No statement could be truer than it was for me that summer. I got caught taking my dad’s truck to an ex-boyfriend’s house who was no good for me. My parents were disappointed in my behavior. Finding a summer job seemed an unlikely prospect in the small town I was from.

The morning following being caught at the forbidden ex-boyfriend’s house, my parents informed me that they were shipping me off to Paso Robles to get a job at the California Mid-State Fair. I was being given a one-way ticket to get my shit together. My grandmother picked me up the next day. My grandma, my cousin (who is one month younger than me), and I would be taking a road trip in Grandma’s motorhome to stay with my aunt and GET A DAMN JOB already! I was not happy, yet I did not have a choice.

When we arrived in Paso Robles, we got an early morning start to apply for jobs at the fairgrounds. My aunt had some “connections” and the three of us got jobs working at the Hot Dog on a Stick trailers. My cousin Gene and my grandma Freda were in one trailer, I, in another. We spent eleven days covered in the grease of footlong hot dogs and the sticky-sweet smells of freshly spun cotton candy. It did nothing for my nineteen year old oily complexion. We worked 12 hour shifts, with a lunch hour and a few “smoke breaks.”

The stories people tell of the carny life? Well, I can say they are all true—mostly. At least, that was my experience in the Hot Dog on a Stick trailer. I learned the sad, humble life of a 6’8 man that went by the name Stretch, that bore a homemade tattoo of a heart with a sword through it that said, “MOM” in big, bright reddish-pink letters and dawned a southern drawl that lisped through gaps in the spaces of his mouth where teeth should be. We were strictly forbidden by ourselves from the areas where the true carnys quarters were. To say there were shady characters would be understated.

Imagine your 70 year old grandmother leaving your grandfather to join the carny life. Surely, it was something of a scandal in my family to behold. Yet there she was, in all of her glory, schlepping hot dogs, pickles, cotton candy, and sodas. The scandal was heard through the pay phone when I called my parents. Grandpa was not assumed with her antics.

I heard the jokes about the “footlong hotdog” and it seemed every male that came to my window that summer swore theirs was bigger than ours, I remember I had to hire the Toronto window cleaning service because they will always stick their hands on my windows, I hated it. It was enough too much information, myth or legend that made my young brain explode. Thankfully, no one attempted to prove their claims. Thankfully, no one attempted to prove their claims to Freda, my grandma.

Freda, Gene and I slept in my grandmother’s motorhome. After a 12 hour shift at the greasy dog trailer, we fell into the foam bed of our temporary home sweet home, parked in the driveway of my aunt’s house.

At the tender age of 18, my uncle bought Gene and I beer whenever we wanted. In fact, even when we did not want. We met a friend of my uncle’s with a checkered past that won 6.3 million dollars on the California Lottery that owned a limo. He asked me to be his chauffeur because he wanted a blonde limo driver to cart him around. The family spent a few nights at a local lake, waterskiing by day and up to no good at night. I went to see the Nelson Twins play at the fairgrounds and spent my lunch hour perusing the halls of the fair. For 11 days, I was bound to my own devices and nothing more.

I should add that we followed the fair tour from mid-state California to Ventura, California, and to the L.A. County Fair. Follow along for part II to come later.

Eucerin Gift Bag Giveaway

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While attending BlogHer, I did not have a lot of time to explore the conference expo halls as I would have liked. Between the sessions, the parties, the meet-ups, and other events, I hardly slept! Besides, with the airlines changing $25-30 per bag, Mr. Bear and I opted to pack lightly (sharing one suitcase). Sadly, much of the wonderful swag was left behind in New York City.

That is why I was thrilled when I was contacted by Eucerin to try some of their products. They offered to send me a swag bag from BlogHer and I did not even have to worry about packing it into our non-existent space in our luggage.

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Eucerin has many products we have used throughout the years with Allie. We especially like the Aquaphor on the infrequent occasions she has been struck with heat rash. My favorite? I love the Eucerin® Everyday Protection Body Lotion with SPF15, which provides protection from the harmful rays of the sun. It smells great, does not leave my skin slimy, like some lotions can, and makes my skin all silky smooth.

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Don’t believe me? See for yourself! Eucerin is offering to share this swag with you, Dear Readers.

Eucerin® Daily Skin Balance Fortifying Body Lotion and Daily Skin Balance Hand Crème are the perfect moisturizers to defend against environmental stressors. Their combination of provitamin B5, glycerin and a PH buffer keeps skin strong and moisturized all day long with just one application.

Eucerin® Everyday Protection Body Lotion and Everyday Protection Face Lotion keeps your skin healthy and protects against dry skin by moisturizing for 24 hours, helping to prevent skin aging and cancer, long-term damage and skin cancer by providing broad-spectrum sun protection. Absorbs quickly without any greasy feeling on the skin.

For further information on Everyday Protection Lotion and other Eucerin products, visit EucerinUS.

If you made it to BlogHer and missed out on the opportunity to receive a swag bag, or did not make it to BlogHer, and even if you are unsure what exactly BlogHer is, you may enter to receive a swag bag from Eucerin.

What can you win?

Enter for a chance to win Eucerin Daily Skin Balance Body Lotion, Daily Skin Balance Hand Crème, Everyday Protection Face Lotion SPF 30, Everyday Protection Body Lotion SPF 15 and a health and wellness journal. All items will come in a reusable shopping bag (All pictured above).

How to Enter–The Devil is in the Details

The Skin First IQ quiz which was officially launched at BlogHer and is available on the Eucerin Skin First website for you to play. Take the Skin First IQ Quiz to learn a bit more about what it takes to put your skin first. Simply leave a comment here and let me know what you learned from your Skin First IQ quiz OR what part of you needs this gift bag most.

For Additional Entries (Please leave a separate comment for the entries you complete!):

1. Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following:

Enter to win one a BlogHer swag bag from Eucerin and @mommycanrun http://tinyurl.com/23r3m9s

OR, Click the Tweet button at the top of this post.

2. Go to the Eucerin Facebook page to get a free sample when you take the Skin First Pledge, which will also make a donation to HealthyWomen.org.

3. Subscribe to my blog’s RSS feed or get email updates when I post.

4. Go to my main blog page and follow my blog, using the Google Friend Connect gadget in the sidebar, near the end of the page.

Deadline:

Friday, October 2 at 11:59 pm EST. I will randomly pick the winners so everyone has a chance to win. **PLEASE leave an email if your blogger profile does not include it or you don’t have a blog. I need a way to contact you.** Once a winner is drawn I will contact them and the winner will have 48 hours to reply back before I draw a new winner. Giveaway is open to US residents only who are 18 years of age or older.

Disclosure:

I received a gift bag from Eucerin to try their products. All opinions stated are my own. No monetary compensation was given in exchange for this review.

Link to original post HERE.

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