If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times…REI is THA BOMB. (That’s right, I wrote it ’90’s style because that’s how serious I am about this shiz.)

So you already heard about my shopping trip to buy goodies for our big beach camp-out in Malibu Carpinteria (it’s hard to get a camp site this time of year in broke-ass Cali!) And guess what? Now you’re going to have to hear about that camp-out, and how freaking awesome it was, and how freaking grateful I am to REI to encouraging me to get out there and enjoy all that LA has to offer this summer…because this is one hell of a city if you rock it right. We’ve got mountains, and oceans, and forests, and valleys (can I get a woot woot?! No? Jerks.) and thanks to REI Scott and I are that much more dedicated to making sure that Delilah, the pups, and us get to enjoy them all.

We dragged Jodi & Neal as well as Sara, Sean, and the boys along with us, and had an awesome night cooking out and sleeping under the stars of Santa Barbara (the actual celestial bodies…and also the celebrities who’s mansions looked down from above) with our kiddos…our first real trip as families with some of my college besties. Memories were made.

So…what did I spend my REI wad on? A family cabana, because it makes not only for a great camp-out (or day trip) accessory on the beach (we also brought our eight-man-tent) but a great chill-out accessory in our own backyard. This summer, we got serious about bringing the outside in, and we made out tiny backyard a giant playroom for miss Delilah George. Thanks to REI, we may never go inside again.

I also splurged a little and snagged myself a Joby rugged with ball head. Ryan and Rachel (my internet photo gurus) insisted that I get myself a proper tripod and keep it on me at all times, so when I saw the Joby in stock at REI I had to have it. Scott and I are both avid photo-hobbyists, and with our own little model du jour (that’s Delilah, I’m trying to be fancy) we can’t stop snapping. The Joby killed it in our beach environment (as did the protective electronics bag I grabbed) and continues to capture family moments from all angles…in focus. Amazing. (Photos on this page obviously courtesy of Sara, while I’ve still got her.)

Anyway…What outdoor activity do you pledge to do with your family and how would a $100 REI gift card help you get there? Take the REI Outdoor Pledge and submit your comment to be entered.

RULES RULES RULES…
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The boy turns three tomorrow, but watching Sara expertly wrangle her two little men while managing to serve the six-layer rainbow cake she made from scratch while remodeling her bathroom (no, seriously) — you’d think she’d been at this Mom business for a hell of a lot longer.

Sara is the kind of gracious, calm, collected, ready-before-the-guests-arrive, hostess that I could only ever dream of being.   This weekend, we celebrated the oldest boy of the new generation that seems to be popping up around our group of friends lately, and Sara did it in true mind-blowing Sara fashion, by bringing out the craziest ass technicolor dream cake I’ve ever laid eyes on.  [Except for, of course, the photos Keeley sent of Winter's equally-stunning technicolor cake from her second birthday party in New York a few weeks ago, which apparently Dashiell saw online and insisted on having one of his own, so his Mama obliged...but holy crap do pictures not quite get across how incredible this cake is.]

Oh, and then no big deal, but she also hand-knit the cutest little monsters ever to pass out as party favors, but not before she put them to work as the stars of Dash’s very own stop-motion birthday video ~

And did I mention that Sara also has a newborn?  (The very same handsome guy she gave birth to in her dining room back in December…remember?)   So yeah…if she weren’t like the greatest friend in the world, I would totally hate her.

Oh, and Dashy’s badass crown was handmade by the lovely Audrey because “every kid needs a crown on their birthday.”    I like your style, Audrey.

{also, I shamelessly stole that photo of Dash and the work-in-progress from Sara’s facebook page to complete this post.   I was a little bit fixated on the cake once it came out.}

And also this -

So, I have a pretty decrepit sense of self.   You might not know it from reading along, but I’m like, crazy self-conscious about everything I do.   I mean, I blog about my personal life on the public internet, so obviously I’ve got some kind of baggage, right?

If we met in person, and you asked me what I do for a living, I’d tell you I’m a writer.   I’ve waited a long time to say that with any sort of conviction, despite the fact that I’ve made my living solely from my writing since early 2008.  For a long time, I felt flushed with confusion and anxiety when someone would ask me the inevitable: “What do you write?”

I write screenplays.   But none that you’ve ever seen in the theater.   I write TV commercials.   But I can’t tell you which ones.   I write blog posts.   Okay, you guys have probably read a few of those.    But I don’t write magazine articles, or books, or anything tangible – the work I do isn’t always easily defined, and with my decrepit sense of self and all, it’s really difficult not to be able to point at something and say THIS.   THIS is what I write.   On the worst days, it leaves me feeling worthless.   {Yes, I know that’s crazy.   And yes, I’m working on it in therapy.}

That’s why the events of this week (well, the past few weeks) have been so meaningful to me.

One of the hardest parts of being a screenwriter is pitching.   Pitching, for those not familiar, is where I am forced to shower, get dressed, leave my house, travel out of the valley (unless I’m lucky enough to be going to Warner Brothers or Universal ~ praise be to The 818) and give a 20 minute song and dance about how I would write your movie better than the last guy, and why you should hire me to do it instead of the other guy.

People.   I’m a writer. I work from home.   I’m practically a recluse.   If I wanted to perform in front of an audience, I would have become a professional actor, or a motivational speaker, or some other thing that gives me the sweats just thinking about it.   Shudder.

So, with the emotional challenges I was faced with this year (that’s my politically correct term for going bat shit crazy) you can imagine how that particular element of my job became a special kind of nightmare for me.  When you live in a prison of anxiety, you don’t get holidays off for good behavior.  (Okay, terrible analogy, but you get the idea – I was a wreck on the days that I didn’t have important meetings.  Anxiety blows.)   But recently, I overcame that hurdle.  Under the tutelage of one of my movie-making heroes and his incredibly supportive executives I drove over that hill, walked right onto that studio lot and pitched my little heart out without breaking a sweat.   Regardless of whether or not I end up getting that gig, I nailed it in my own mind, and that was more a important milestone than I could possibly put into words.   [But that never stops me from trying.  Clearly.]

Then on Monday, THIS HAPPENED.  A screenplay that my partner Eric and I wrote together landed on the [un-officially official] “Most Liked Screenplays of 2010″ list, aka The Black List.  {Not to be confused with The Hollywood Blacklist of the 1950′s, which was NOT a list writers wanted to be on.}  They like me, you guys.  They really like me. (I know, I know, I’m a humongous dork.)  Monday was a good day.

Also this week?  My first post as a BlogHer Contributing Editor went live.   My Oscar Predictions (which you should take with a grain of salt) are on the top of the homepage right now!   It makes me a little giddy to have a byline.

And this morning, as the cherry on top of a pretty awesome week – I opened my email to discover that I’ve been named one of Momversation’s 10 Fresh Voices of 2010.   Bad. Ass.  [CLICK HERE to see who else made the list.]  Momversation is a web series put on by an incredible group of writers and Moms, all of whom I hugely respect, so to be recognized by them has me pretty wild with joy.   {Still, it makes me giggle to be commended for my “Fresh Attitude”, because that’s exactly what my Dad would holler at me when I was…y’know…being a teenager. He did not mean it in a good way.}

A week I really needed.   Like, bad.   But that’s not even everything.   I haven’t even told you about the MOST IMPORTANT thing that happened this week.

On Monday morning at 12:00am I got a text from Sara that she was in labor.    From 4am on I sat by the birthing pool in her dining room and cheered her on as she labored into the morning…finally giving birth to her beautiful son Finn, born at home, December 13th at 7:49 am.    Sara was incredible.   Her strength through her labor was astounding, and getting to be there to watch one of my best friends in the world – my HLP – give birth to her second child in such an empowered environment was like…well – it was fucking mind blowing.

I’ll leave it at that, because Sara’s birth story is her own to tell, but Mama – you are incredible, and I’m in awe of you.

*     *     *

So that’s where I’ve been this week.   AND… I have ANOTHER HUNDRED DOLLARS TO GIVE AWAY TO ONE OF YOU! And I’ll have $100 more on Monday.   So come back, okay?