2011
Shake It Up
Internet, the things I do for you.
A few weeks ago I swapped out my regular midday and evening snacks to test-drive the new Dreyer’s shakes and smoothies, all in the name of delicious public service. If this is what it means to take one for the team, I’m thinking about joining a league.
2011
America Is Your Park
The last post in this two-parter left off with me turning to Simon and saying, “You. Music Boy. Write me some songs,” which he did, and how. Here at last is Part 2 of our picnic at Crissy Field three weeks ago, videos and photos and music and words and all.
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Right from the beginning, the day wasn’t going as expected. We’d prepared to park the car a mile away from our picnic spot and haul our equipment in via pack mule because Crissy Field is always super-crowded with good-time folks on weekends, but when we pulled past the giant picnic lawn at 10:00 a.m., there, like a shining beacon, was an empty space right across from our party location, and just like that, the whole event became instantly ten times easier. Sometimes Plan B is awesome. Five minutes later, Sara and Ron appeared (an hour early) and helped us set everything up, which also dashed our plans of slaving away, just Simon and me, wrestling with tables and blankets and a balloon bouquet on a pole from our wedding while Wombat ran wild after gophers and our cohost, Ana from Finding Bonggamom, was busy picking up sandwiches from the Warming Hut and greeting our guests down at Fort Point for the tour and canon demo. We missed that part–my little family stayed behind to guard the food and test out all our new lawn games–but when the party arrived, we were ready for them. Here’s a little music video of the festivities; I love it because it’s a perfect representation of the day. (AND BECAUSE THE MUSIC IS AWESOME.)
There were sandwiches drinks and cookies and seasoned chips (a revelation for Wombat) and old friends and new friends and balls to kick, throw, toss, bat, and roll. Big kids, little kids, bloggers, tweeters, and regular old normal people all came together to enjoy a Sunday at the park in weather that did not cooperate with the five layers of clothes I’d worn because that’s what you do in San Francisco in July and the forecast says overcast and a high of 58 degrees.
In this next slideshow, watch how the ominous cloud cover gives way to brilliant sunshine, causing Internet addicts to look away from their smartphones for a few seconds to see what’s making the world so bright and shiny and warm before they turn back to their screens to officially report to their friends and followers that, by the grace of Saint Francis, it’s actually hot in July here for once. (I kid, of course. No one spent the day sucked into his or her phone, although there were a lot of bloggers there sharing pics and snippets in real time from the event. (In the first video, look for Ana and Kim from Tippy Toes and Tantrums at 1:07 and Chris Carfi, Lisa Stone, and Jenny Lauck (tweeting!) at 1:27.)
It was so fun to see everyone out enjoying the day at such a spectacular location. I mean, I’m sure your favorite park is quite lovely, but how can it compete with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge?
Lest we forget, these posts were written in support of Coca-Cola’s Live Positively campaign (which I really should write about in more depth, since I got some in-person information on the program when I flew to Coke headquarters in Atlanta last fall, an awesome event I never blogged about because it was November and my life was (is) crazy). Live Positively is currently hosting the second annual America Is Your Park contest at LivePositively.com/americasparks, and your votes could help your favorite park–national, state, or local–win a heap of money. Check it out: Click to vote for your favorite park or enter the contest by uploading photos to LivePositively.com or by “checking in” via Facebook Places.
Thanks to Coca-Cola, BlogHer, Ana, Simon, and all our guests for coming out to support the cause and break in our bocce set.
2011
Live Positively
Get out the coats. Get out the hats, the scarves, the mittens, the fleece socks, the puffy down vest, and the earmuffs for the kids. It’s time for a July picnic in Northern California!
[At least that's what we planned for. The day of our picnic (two Sundays ago), we suited up in the gear we wore to the beach bonfire the night before, but what happened is a prime example of how you can plan for everything in San Francisco and you'll still be wrong surprised. But first, here's a post I wrote before the picnic about what I was expecting.]
