Halloween at The Yahoo Lady's House

The Must-Do Halloween House in our neighborhood is, without question, The Yahoo Lady's House. That's what all the kids call Marissa Meyer's home (they used to call it The Google Lady's House until she moved to Yahoo). She has a home just across the street from the kids' former elementary school, and just from looking at it, you wouldn't really think that it belonged to a multi-billionaire tech giant -- unless you happened to pass by during Halloween.

Marissa is always the subject of a lot of press, and not everyone likes her, but say what you will about her, she puts on an over-the-top Halloween show for the neighborhood. Every year the house is decorated to the nines, with cornstalks, pumpkins, and life-sized ghouls.  The highlight is always a giant carved pumpkin. She started out with just one, and now she has at least three or four. The pumpkins always look amazing at night.

On Halloween night, there are always long lines at her place, because she gives out movie theater-sized candy, as well as plush Beanie Babies! Usually parents send their kids to the front door to get candy while they hang around on the sidewalk, but not at The Yahoo Lady's House.  Here, the parents line up with their kids so they can check out the decor.... and get a glimpse of Marissa Mayer. She always hands out candy personally.

Last year, Marissa took a cue from Disneyland and created a mini hay bale maze so that people could look at stuff while they waited in line. Her front lawn doesn't have enough space for it, so she used the parking lot of the empty funeral home that she bought (she turfed up the parking lot and she uses the space to host fabulous parties).

By the way, those are photos taken from Halloweens past.  I stopped by her house the other day to take some photos of this year's display. It's difficult to say which one is my favorite!

See you at The Yahoo Lady's House tomorrow night!

Five Tips for enjoying the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival

Free weekends are a rare and precious thing for our family. We're constantly carting our kids to soccer games, dance rehearsals, band performances, birthday parties, and Girl Scout campouts. When the stars align and we no events scheduled, more often than not we end up crashing on the couch, grateful to rest and watch TV and do nothing.

We're enjoying one of those free weekends right now -- but we're not staying home! Tomorrow we're making our annual pilgrimage to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. The festival is so popular, it brings huge crowds every year, which can be stressful and exhausting. We hate crowds, but we've found ways to manage the crowds and have the time of our lives. Here are five tips to help everyone make the most of the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival:

How we are spending spring break

Spring break is approaching, and many families have travel plans looming. Whether you're headed for the beach, a national park, a theme park, the city, or the countryside, you're probably really excited for what's in store.

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival

I've just realized that this blog is over 8 years old and has absolutely no mention of the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.  This is a serious omission, because the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival is our favorite festival in the entire region (I did write about why I love the HMB Pumpkin Festival over on Silicon Valley Mamas a couple of years ago).  We've attended the festival every year for almost a decade, and despite the crowds and traffic, we can't wait for the next festival to arrive.

Raw Food Dinner

Raw food diets are all the rage these days, with age-defying celebrities like Demi Moore, Alicia Silverstone, Gwyneth Paltrow and Woody Harrelson fueling the trend.  I've never really looked into raw food, mostly because the thought of limiting myself to uncooked fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts is much too daunting.

No toasting.
No roasting.
No boiling.
No broiling.
No baking.
No frying.
I'm shaking.
I'm dying.

Her First Concert

Last night we took The Pea to her first-ever concert: Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.  As far as first concerts go, this one turned out to be a Monster one, thanks to concert sponsor Skype, and I'm hoping she'll forgive the lameness of the fact that she attended her first concert with her mom and dad, and focus on what an amazing time she had.

California Classico 2012: SJ Earthquakes vs. LA Galaxy

City derby matches always produce the most intense and exciting soccer matches.  The most famous ones even have their own name:  think Manchester City vs. Manchester United (Manchester Derby), Liverpool vs. Everton (Merseyside Derby), Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund (Deutschland National Derby) and Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona (El Clasico).

Drunken College Students, cavewomen and 40 other things I saw at Bay to Breakers

It seems like people who turn forty always want to prove that they're no older or more decrepit than they were at 39 -- in fact they want to prove to the world that they're fitter, hotter, wilder, than they were the year before.  I guess I'm no exception, because I signed up for the 2012 Bay to Breakers determined to improve on last year's finish time.  But as always, I slacked off on training in the months leading up to the race and decided to walk the race instead -- and as always, ended up running it anyway.  The good news is that I managed to shave off a couple of minutes from my finish time  (1:18:51, down from 1:21:31 last year), even though I literally stopped dead in my tracks for 2 or 3 minutes to primp and groom myself before the race photographers started taking photos (I needed proof that that I was fitter and hotter than last year).

To Run or Not to Run: Bay to Breakers 2007

Bonggamom's note:  This is an old post I wrote for Silicon Valley Moms in 2007.  I'm reposting it here to celebrate Bay to Breaker's 101st race.

I survived Sunday's Bay to Breakers race. Even more amazing, I ran and survived it. Despite various medical setbacks and general laziness, I managed to get my body back into shape for the 7.46 mile run. But was it worth it? Today my body is aching, my toenails are falling off..... why did I bother to push myself? There's something to be said for hanging out near the back of the pack and walking it like I did last year. For anyone thinking of doing it next year, here's my post-race analysis of the pros and cons of walking versus running:

Partying in the Streets of San Francisco: Bay to Breakers 2006

Bonggamom's note: this is an old post I wrote for the Silicon Valley Moms in 2006.  I'm reposting it here to celebrate the 101st Bay to Breakers race, held yesterday in San Francisco.

Yesterday was the 2006 Bay to Breakers race. B2B is the longest consecutively running footrace in the world, a San Francisco tradition. Every year, about 80,000 people walk/run/party the 12k (7.46 mile) course. Many are in costume and many wear nothing whatsoever. This is my 4th B2B; the last time I ran was in 2002. 2003 passed by (too busy), then 2004 (too exhausted) and 2005 (too disorganized). By 2006 I had run out of excuses, so I recruited my friend and avid racewalker, the Divine Ms. B. Since we walked most of the course instead of running it like I had in previous years, I had plenty of time to relax, observe, and really enjoy what was going on around me:

Arguments against legal same-sex marriage (and why they're nonsense)

Finally, President Obama has taken a stand and voiced his support for gay marriage.  No, not gay marriage, just marriage -- marriage for everyone, regardless of race, religion, economic status, or sexual orientation.

I've long been an advocate for marriage for all, despite my Catholic upbringing. And no matter what your religious beliefs are, I'm hoping you'll agree that the law should allow any two consenting adults to wed.  If you keep in mind that we're talking about marriage as a legal contract, I don't see any arguments against it!  Here are all the usual reasons people oppose same-sex marriage -- and why I don't think they matter:

How to have the perfect Ski Week

Last week the stars aligned and gave us pretty-darn-near-perfect weather for a family ski vacation. After months and months with not a snowflake in sight, the Tahoe skies finally produced some snow -- but obligingly stopped the morning that we left, so we could drive up without any traffic delays, and enjoy soft powder and sunny skies.

A Recipe for One Perfect Day

Whether you're a city dweller who's starved for something green, or you've been eating too many couch potatoes lately or you're just tired of asphalt and concrete, have I got some soul food for you. Here's a recipe that's chock-full of 2 healthy ingredients, fresh air and nature. Try it and enjoy!

Have you been to the park this summer?

Growing up in the sweltering heat of the tropics, I was raised to avoid going outdoors as much as possible -- but with this beautiful California weather I want to raise my own kids to appreciate the beauty of nature and reap the benefits of an active, outdoorsy lifestyle. We've having a "slow" summer this year -- no big trips, no fancy vacations, just two weeks of summer camp -- and we've been whiling away most of our time indoors, with trips to the library or museum, home crafts and more marathon tv sessions than I care to admit. Sometimes I need a big kick in the pants to remind me that we have a wealth of beautiful parks nearby just waiting to be enjoyed.

A job I love

I've worked for The Savvy Source for almost 3 years now. It has been something of a dream job for me: it's part time, I can work from home, and I get to leverage the knowledge and experience I've gained from living in the Bay Area for almost 17 years, 10 of which I've spent searching near and far, high and low for places to entertain my kids. Over the years I've done all kinds of writing for them, from site reviews to book reviews to event listings to community moderation to general preschool topic writing.

My latest job incarnation involves editing the Savvy Savings and Scholarship deals that subscribers get every week; I especially love editing our local offers because I get to know about some really great offers before they go live! I'm also writing a lot of local articles with my choice of top places to go and things to do, which I love even more because I get to share my favorite places with the people who need them most: parents with young kids who want to entertain and educate them.

Check out my latest article: Five Spots for Swimming and Splashing in the Bay Area.


I'm so lucky to be doing something I love!

100 Bottles of Beer, 100 Naked Men and other strange sights at Bay to Breakers

Bay to Breakers is as much a part of San Francisco as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Gay Pride Parade and Ghirardelli chocolates. This is my 6th (or is it 7th?) time to run it, and I was so happy I was able to participate in the 100th race. Despite all the health hiccups I encountered in preparing for it, I knew I'd manage to finish it somehow ( thanks to 3Po's amazing fortune-telling abilities) and I'm pretty happy with my finish time (I haven't checked my official time yet, but with my ultra-precise method of checking my phone at the start and finish lines, I clocked myself at about 1:21). Update: my official finish time was 1:21:31.

But Bay to Breakers isn't about about lap times or finish times; heck, it isn't even about the running. It's about the spirit of fun and festivity that surrounds you, and all the zanies you meet along the way.

To celebrate B2B's 100th year, here (in no particular order) are 100 of the wild and wacky characters I encountered while running the 100th Bay to Breakers:

How to Dress for an Eighties Party

I've known for a long time that my friend's 40th birthday bash was going to be a Big Deal, but I had no idea how much until we received the invitation. It contained a big F Bomb -- Fashion Bomb, that is -- it was an Eighties Party, which basically upped the ante for the guests; instead of just showing up, we had to get in the spirit and come up with an 80's costume.

Now, I am the Queen of all Dressing Up (see any October/Halloween post I've ever done), so the 80's theme was great news. The 80's are my element -- all I needed to do for inspiration was look in my high school photo album and listen to the music on my iPod -- and I knew I could put together a Madonna-style outfit without breaking a sweat.

Cut-up shirt, miniskirt, fishnet stockings, leg warmers, heels, side ponytail, neon pink earrings, fingerless gloves, crucifix bling. Easy peasy.


But the dress-up element threw Alfie for a loop. I haven't quite managed to convince him that dressing up is fun, or that he won't feel ridiculous if everyone else looks ridiculous along with him. To make things worse, he hates 80's music and fashion, so he couldn't really get too excited about it. And it's not like you can rustle up a genuine male 80's outfit from your closet (unless of course you live in a trailer park). Do you know how many 80's costumes there are for men in your local costume store? None. Maybe a rocker wig or a mullet, a Michael Jackson outfit if you're lucky. I searched for weeks to find a good outfit (I must have hit every Goodwill store within a 20-mile radius from our home, searching for a Miami Vice white jacket or acid-wash jeans), and Alfie must have changed his mind about a dozen times. In the end he decided on an 80's rocker look, with acid-washed jeans and big, poufy hair.


I was spraying bleach on these jeans about 3 hours before the party. I used so much bleach, I'm surprised Alfie's legs didn't fizzle away along with the denim. And in case you didn't know, that hair is not his. No way I would marry a guy with big, curly mullet hair!


I think we did okay in the costume department. But as much as I enjoyed putting together our outfits, seeing what other people came up with was even more enjoyable! We saw some great outfits, and just in case you need an 80's costume idea -- or a good laugh -- I'm sharing them here with you:


Male
Men can pretty much put on a mullet wig and claim they're in an 80's costume, but frankly, I think that's kind of lame. To be truly in the (80's) zone, you need to put in a bit more effort, and I loved seeing all the effort that showed up at my friend's party. I do think Alfie was one of the male standouts, with his long, flowing locks, but there were quite a few other creative male outfits:

* Don Johnson in Miami Vice (white suit with pastel colored tshirt)
* Larry Bird (complete with #33 jersey and caterpillar mustache)
* Preppy boy (pastel Lacoste or Izod shirt with upturned collar, white sweater draped across the shoulders, khaki shorts or chinos with rolled-up pant legs, loafers without socks, wayfarers)
* Beat boxer -- neon colored shirt, baggy pants, Converse hi-tops or Vans sneakers, Sony Walkman (yes, the real thing! He must have a big attic to be keeping stuff like that).

Female
As I expected, we saw every variation of Madonna imaginable, from her grungy Suddenly Seeking Susan look to her corseted Like A Virgin lace getup to her sleek Vogue look with headset microphone and cone bra. And since the 80's look is creeping back into fashion, I wasn't surprised to see loose belted shirts, skintight jeans and heels. But I should have known that Girls Just Wanna Have Fun -- I was amazed at the other kinds of outfits my fellow females came up with! No detail was spared, from shiny blue eyeshadow to teased hair to lace gloves (fingerless, naturally) to Swatch watches.

* Krystle Carrington.
* Any and every variation of the hideous Gunne Sax prom dress and white, low-heeled shoes (the birthday girl even had a gigantic wrist corsage!).
* Acid washed jeans skirt and jacket.
* Shoulder-padded dresses and fringed, stiletto-heeled cowboy boots.
* Flashdancers (off-the shoulder shirts, leggings -- some were neon! -- and legwarmers).


The winning outfits for male and female would have to go to the Jane Fonda aerobicizers. "Jane Fonda" wore a headband across her forehead, wristbands, a thong leotard and shiny lycra tights (I couldn't wear that even in the 80's!). Her male counterpart wore exactly the same thing, except instead of a leotard he sported a midriff shirt with cutoff sleeves. It was absolutely horrific, and absolutely brilliant! Or should I say, totally rad....


Can anyone think of any other 80's outfit I need to add to this list?

Siblings on a Plane

This post originally appeared on July 19, 2006 on the Silicon Valley Moms Blog. I'm reposting it here in its original form.


"Snakes on a Plane", the Samuel L. Jackson film that has created so much buzz on the Internet, opens August 18th. If you happen to be flying to England on July 18th, you might catch a preview of this movie; only instead of snakes, it might just be 3 rambunctious children.

I'm flying to England with my three children all by myself. Most people who know about this tell me I'm crazy. But I've actually done it before. When the twins were 3 months old and my daughter was almost 3, I took them to spend 1 month at my parents' home in Manila. My husband did not come with us. I made the outward journey with my mother, and I flew back to the US with the 3 kids by myself. It was a 16-hour flight with 1 stopover, almost 24 hours door-to-door, and I survived. So I figure, I can do it again, right?

I have everything planned. At the airport, I will ask whether my husband can accompany me all the way to the boarding gate (apparently the policy on this varies by airline and airport). Failing that, I will ask for assistance through the security area. I will stack the carseats on the double stroller and wheel it to the gate while my children walk beside me. I will be using toddler leashes on my twins, and they will have a bracelet or sticker with my name and cellphone number in case they get lost. On the plane, I am hoping they will spend approx. 1 hour eating, 1 hour walking around, 2 hours watching movies, and 5 hours sleeping. They will each have a backpack with their loveys, a toy, a book, a snack and a sippy cup. My backpack will have extra surprise toys, diapers, snacks, wipes, and toiletries. My MP3 is loaded up with their favorite songs and books-on-tape. I will ask a stewardess for help if I need to go to the bathroom. Finally, I will pack a bottle of Benadryl in case one of them simply will not sleep and I get desperate.

I have a sinking feeling that nothing will go according to plan. The only flights we have taken since our trip to Manila have been less than 2 hours, short enough to keep them occupied for the duration of the flight, and we have always had a 1:1 ratio of kids to adults. So I really don't know how things will go this time, but I am expecting the worst. About 1 month ago, I took them on a 1-hr train ride, as sort of a test run. They loved it, but I didn't expect my son to freak out when the train went into the tunnels. I also didn't expect him to get bored after 15 minutes and say, "Mama, I want to get off". I can see it now, 6 hours into the flight, when all is dark, somewhere above the Atlantic -- "Mama, it's dark, I want to get off the plane". What do I do then?

I'm not really worried about my daughter; she has always been a great traveller. But my twins are a different story. When I flew from Manila to SF, they were just cute, inanimate bundles. They were taken out of their carseats only to be fed, changed or soothed. Kind stewardesses and fellow passengers were only too glad to help pick them up and hold them. Having identical twins added to the cuteness factor. Nowadays, my twins are cuter than ever. However, they are like the Energizer Bunny, they just keep going and going. They are active 2.5 year old boys and it's just not in their nature to keep still. I have no idea how I am going to keep them in their seats for a 10-hour flight. I can only keep them strapped in their carseats for so long; at some point they will struggle, scream, or heaven forbid, start kicking the seat in front of them. Then I will have to release my little snakes to terrorize the entire plane. What do I do when one of them wants to head for the cockpit and the other one wants to head for the galley?

My faith in humankind tells me that there will still be kind people who will offer to help. Of course there will also be normal people who will silently (or not so silently) grit their teeth when the yelling starts. To everyone on the plane, I offer my sincere thanks and apologies in advance. I've heard stories of parents passing out chocolates and earplugs to their seatmates; maybe I should do that too.

We arrive at Heathrow on July 19 at 1PM. Hopefully my kids will have slept for at least 5 hours. Somehow, I will have to get my groggy self, 3 groggy kids, 3 carseats, 2 suitcases and 1 double stroller past customs and into the welcoming arms of my in-laws. Hopefully it will all have a Hollywood-type happy ending.

Open MAKE: Inspiring young Makers everywhere

This weekend we were invited to the San Francisco Exploratorium to meet some amazing young inventors who will be showcasing their creations at the 2010 Bay Area Maker Faire. We thoroughly enjoyed last year's Maker Faire, so I knew it would be an event worth seeing, and great run-up to the main event on May 22 and 23.


Sure enough, we got a great sneak peek at some really cool inventions -- a marble run, a levitating machine, a fire breathing dragon and a rotating light sphere. We got to listen to several inventors explain how their inventions worked, what challenges they encountered and what they love most about their inventions. The Open MAKE exhibition area also had some great interactive exhibits like a marble run wall, where the boys could make their own marble run with wooden pegs, ramps, pipes, platforms and other doo-dads.

But their hands-down favorite activity was making these Scribbling Machines.



All you need is a small rotary motor, a hot glue gun stick, a box or plastic tub, some markers and tape. You stick the glue stick into the rotating shaft of the motor to make a propeller -- but you don't stick it in the middle, stick it slightly off-center so that your machine will actually travel instead of just vibrate. Attach one of the motor's wires to one end of an AA battery with a rubber band, and attach the motor to a plastic cup with tape. For legs, tape 4 or more markers, marker-side down, to the bottom of the cup. They also had bits of feathers and pipe cleaners and stickers so kids could decorate their contraptions.

To make the machine go, attach the motor's second wire to the other end of the battery. This turns the machine and the propeller, which makes the whole thing wiggle around. The markers will write on whatever surface you place your machine on, since it's vibrating so much.




The boys were absolutely entranced! We had to give the motors back so that another museum-goer could get the chance to try it out, but they had vending machines which sold the motors for just 50 cents. I bought one for each kid, and now they're have a wonderful time inventing all sorts of contraptions using the motor. What a great way to inspire future makers!



Disclosure: We received complimentary admission to the San Francisco Exploratorium to attend this event. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.

50% off Family Tickets to San Francisco's Aquarium of the Bay

Hey, Bay Area families: this week's Savvy Source deal is for the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. You can purchase a Family Pack of tickets (2 adults, 2 children ages 3-11) for $20. That's 50% off the regular price of $40!

If you haven't been to the Aquarium of the Bay, check it out! We went there a couple of months ago and we all loved it. You get to walk through glass tunnels with fish and sharks and bat rays swimming beside you and above you!

The deal expires at midnight on Thursday April 22, so purchase it ASAP at:

http://www.savvysource.com/event/home_san-francisco-bay-area_ca/referrerCode=APB11

In addition, 5% of every purchase will go towards a Savvy Source preschool scholarship fund, and an additional 5% will go to the preschool of your choice (you choose from a list of preschools in CA when you sign up for the offer).

Disclosure: I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. I do receive a referral bonus if tickets are purchased from the link provided. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.