Tales of the Traveling Burrito Blanket

Hawaii

Earlier this year, I saw a Facebook ad for a burrito blanket.  It's a blanket.  That looks like a tortilla.  And I needed to own one.  Immediately.  I ordered one for a ridiculous price.  I think I paid more than $30.  When it arrived, there was something wrong.  It looked nothing like a tortilla.  It looked like someone was stabbed while wearing a white blanket (we called it the murder blanket or the period blanket).  It was horrible and looked nothing like what was advertised.  So I emailed the company and demanded my money back.  They responded that they had been given a "bad batch" but that they had new ones and they promised it would actually look like a tortilla.  So, I let them send me a replacement.  When it arrived, I was ecstatic!  I could make a burrito!!!  Finally!  

So, with what you know about me, you can guess that I did the only thing you could possibly do with a blanket that looks like a tortilla: I decided to make a photo album of the burrito blanket's adventures.  

 Muir Woods

First stop:  Hawaii.  I thought my burrito blanket deserved a vacation, so I took it with me on my trip to visit friends in June (in addition to looking like a tortilla, it is actually a light, soft blanket that is perfect for air travel).  We had adventures all over the island of Oahu.  On my last night, I packed up my little blanket, in preparation for flying home the next day.  When I got home, I couldn't find my blanket anywhere.  I was devastated.  I checked with my friends to see if I had left it on accident.  They didn't see it, and I very specifically remembered packing it into my bag.  So, I did what anyone would do...I took to social media to shame the TSA for stealing my burrito blanket!  I also immediately went to Amazon to order myself a replacement.  I figured I would have more protections if I used Amazon, plus they had a million options for size and color.  

Meet the Murder Blanket

A day later, my friends sent me a photo of the burrito blanket, still living in Hawaii.  And then I remembered that yes, I did pack my burrito blanket, then I worried it was still damp, so I took it out of my bag, and it got thrown into the washer with some towels.  Whoops!  Sorry, TSA!  I quietly took my post down, and told my friends that they were now the proud owners of a burrito blanket.  A day after that, Amazon Prime paid off, and a package showed up at my door.  I picked it up off the doorstep and excitedly opened my new burrito blanket.  A second later, there was another knock at the door, and another box was delivered.  It was the same exact size and weight as my first box.  Could it be??  Was the Universe rewarding me with TWO burrito blankets?!  YES!  Yes, the EXACT same burrito blanket was in the second box.  Again, I took to social media to talk about my amazing good fortune.  

San Luis Obispo

I got a message from my friend Heather a minute later.  She couldn't stand the thought of me being without my burrito blanket, so she bought me one as well.  She literally chose the same brand, size, and color as the one I chose!  She's so amazing.  So, now I have two burrito blankets.  One lives in my car for those impromptu burrito blanket photoshoots.  And the other lives in my house, ready for any travels we may want to take together.  

I know some people question my mental state sometimes.  I don't consider myself immature.  I am able to hold down a good job and pay my own bills.  But I do appreciate the silly things in life.  So, I will leave you with this quote and a few photos of my burrito blanket's adventures:  

It's okay to be absurd, ridiculous, and downright irrational at times; silliness is sweet syrup that helps us swallow the bitter pills of life.
~ Richelle E. Goodrich

Las Vegas

Family Reunion in Tracy

The Surprise Murder Mystery Party

So awhile back, I'm watching Big Bang Theory, and they had a surprise murder mystery party.  I have never desired to attend a murder mystery, but suddenly a SURPRISE murder mystery seemed like the funnest idea EVER.  Mama Bel's birthday was coming up, and so I started spinning the idea in my head.  I ran it by a few other Twirlies and it was set!  The theme of a Disney princess murder mystery seemed like a no brainer thanks to Fat Princess (aka AJ).  I realized I couldn't make it a surprise for everyone since the attendees needed to wear costumes and read up on their characters.  So, I decided that only Bel would be surprised. 

I had NO idea how much work one of these parties would be.  I purchased the kit from a website, but I had to print out almost 100 pages of documents, then cut everything up and place them into envelopes.  It took me hours.  Don't get me wrong, it was a ton of fun and so worth it once the party started!

I arrived at Bel's house dressed as some kind of modern punk ballerina Snow White.  I had Rita dressed as a fairy, Ellen dressed as an Eminem'ed out Rap-unzel and Jade as Hansel.  Bel was thoroughly confused.  We just told her that "all would be revealed shortly."  As people began to arrive, Bel started to guess who they were.  It was awesome.  Diana (Red Riding Hood) and Kim (Jasmine)  kindly provided Bel with a yellow dress, as her character was Belle from Beauty and the Beast.  She was dancing around, guessing whether she was a can-can girl or Cinderella.  Sean Michael played Prince Charming, the ultimate host of the evening, and the person aaaaaaalllll the princesses wanted to get with.  AJ starred as Cinderella (aka Cindy), the princess who went missing, and cuing the beginning of our murder mystery. 

We let Bel in on the secret, gave her some information about her character and away we went!  

If you don't want to know who "dies" and how the rest of the party plays out, please don't read past here.  I'm going to post photos of the event.  I want to wish Bel a very, very happy birthday (today is her actual birthday).  She has done so much for me, and I was happy to be able to be part of a fun night in her honor.  Thank you to Ellen for picking up the beautiful cake!  I also want to thank everyone who came to the party.  It was difficult because you have to get a number of guests, then assign characters.  And each one plays a role, so we did a little juggling in the last couple of days, and had a few attendees who didn't get an official character.  But I felt like the entire thing came together well, moved along at a pretty good pace and that, in the end, everyone had a really fun time.

So, happy, happy birthday, Mama Bel!!  Enjoy a photo journal of our evening:

My Activities Partner -- RITA!

So today I had an awesome day running around San Francisco with my friend, Rita.  Since meeting Rita a few years ago, she has been up for pretty much anything.  She was the one person out of a group of five who actually showed up when we scheduled our taster class with Twirly Girls.  Two years later, we are still going to classes every single week.  Rita went down to Southern California with me a few weeks ago for the California Pole Dance Championship.  We were both nervous about being stuck in close quarters for four days, but we are both pretty laid back and actually traveled really well together.  Rita is such an amazing person.  She has had three kidney transplants in her lifetime and deals with pain and health issues every single day -- yet she still gets up every day and lives her life.  She is super smart, teaches technology for St. Mary's College and is the one who does all of our Twirly Girls videos (helloooooo, awesome tech geek!!).  She also has a beautiful teenager daughter named Kate that I would do anything for (and a nerdy husband Dave who is pretty cool too).  I believe everyone should have a friend who is pretty much down to try anything so that you can have fun too!

Thanks, Rita, for being my activities partner!