Month: March 2012

  • Fashion Friday: Edition let’s not pretend it’s not already summer

    This is such a weird time of year for clothes. I’m ready for Easter to get here so we can just wear white pants and sandals and get on with the summer festivities.

    I mean, it’s been over 80 degrees here all week. Winter? Is done.

    In fact, I’m not sure winter ever really showed up. We had a few chilly days but that was about it.

    And now I’m ready for flip-flops and skirts and white jeans.

    But I’m not ready for shorts. I don’t know that I’ll ever be ready for shorts again. It’s like I told a friend this week, shorts are tricky. When I think they’re a good length while I’m standing up, they’re going to be too short if I try to sit down. If I get them to a length where I feel comfortable sitting down, then I look like I’m on the LPGA tour when I stand up. Which is fine if you’re playing golf, but not if you just want a cute pair of shorts to wear to the grocery store.

    Or maybe I just have shorts issues.

    Anyway, I’m not featuring any shorts this week because I’m not sure they fit in my life anymore. Maybe the only shorts I’ll wear from here on out will be running shorts.

    1. afternoon sunshine lace dress

    This happy little yellow dress is so cute. And I love the lace. It would be perfect for Easter.

    2. colored slim flare jeans

    The other day I was talking to my friend Sophie and she mentioned that she was looking for a pair of colored jeans but with a flared leg. And I think I said something along the lines of “That doesn’t exist”.

    But then curiosity got the better of me and I consulted the google. Lo and behold, such a thing does exist. You can also find a more expensive version by Elizabeth and James for $225.

    3. busy week tunic

    I really like this tunic. It’s different than other tunics with its cute button details and fun collar.

    4. gold lauren sandals

    I mentioned yesterday that I’m on the search for gold sandals. I know I want something really simple and so these are definitely a contender.

    5. mediterranean sea necklace

    Noonday has in their spring collection of jewelry and I saw this necklace and it was love at first sight. It’s so beautiful.

    6. leather flip-flops

    I looked for these in the store at Gap yesterday and they didn’t have them. But I love the way they look online. And they come in a bunch of different colors.

    Of course I would like the gold.

    7. crochet peasant blouse

    Another Gap item. Dear Gap, Are you trying to woo me back after I’d sworn I was done with you forever?

    8. mosaic cuff

    Swoon. Love the colors in this.

    9. rainbow bright top

    This is just the cutest. Love the bright colors and think of all the variations of colored jeans you could wear with it.

    10. one stop shopper tall tote

    I thought this bag was a cute summer option. Love the hot pink detail on the bottom.

    That’s it for this week. I’m about to head out for a night with the girls. Imagine how bad you’d need a night out with your friends after spending all day in a cave with a bunch of third graders.

    And know that I need to go out even more than whatever you just imagined.

    Y’all have a great Friday.

  • Apps is short for application. It took me awhile to figure that out.

    So here’s something I’ve been meaning to talk about for a while until I forget about it because I start thinking about how I really want a pair of gold sandals for the summer and wonder where I can find a cute pair and then spend the next hour searching “Gold Sandals” at Nordstrom and Piperlime.

    iPhone apps.

    And I realize this may seem like a lame post but my hope is we’ll all walk away with some knowledge and knowledge is good. I saw that on Animal House.

    My hope is also that I can write this and go to bed because I’m chaperoning a third grade field trip tomorrow and you know what you need before you herd around twenty third graders? Sleep. And lots of it.

    And maybe a Xanax.

    Here are five apps I really like right now:

    1. Draw Something

    My friend Debbi told me about this and it seems like the rest of the world already knew about it long before I did. It’s kind of like Pictionary and it’s completely addicting.

    The only problem is sometimes you’ll draw a clue that’s supposed to be two stick figures pulling on opposite ends of a rope in the hopes your playing partner will guess the word “tug”. And instead they will guess the word “gax”.

    I don’t understand it.

    But I may be partially to blame since my rope looked more like a ladder and everyone knows about that hilarious game called gax where two people pull on a ladder.

    2. Red Stamp

    This is another favorite. You can make all kinds of pretty cards and then text them or email them to people.

    Kind of like this.

    Source: redstamp.com via Jillee on Pinterest

     

    It’s very fancy.

    3. Temple Run

    My niece Sarah introduced Caroline to this game while we were on Spring Break and I’ll admit that I’ve become a little obsessed with it. It’s basically just a guy running for his life through a jungle, but he has to jump and slide and turn sharp corners while collecting coins.

    Just like I imagine things would be if I were running for my life through a real jungle.

    4. Cozi

    Okay. Admittedly, I don’t use this app as much as I should if I wanted to be super organized. But I love the idea of it.

    It’s a family organizer and you can color code each member of your family and send them all email reminders about upcoming appointments, soccer practices, etc.

    And it emails you each week with reminders about your upcoming week.

    Which is much more efficient than my current system of “Oh dang. I totally forgot the third grade field trip is tomorrow.”

    5. Someecards

    Oh. These have added so much joy to my life.

    Especially this one that Gulley put on her Facebook page the other day.

    And there are so many more. Plus, you can create your own and then text them, email them, jedi mind trick them to your friends.

    So those are five apps I’m a fan of these days. What am I missing? Any apps that you love?

  • A lot of words about nothing

    You know what’s going on here? Absolutely nothing.

    In fact, there is so little happening that I’m struggling to find something to write about and so I debate about whether or not I should just give in and not post anything or just ramble and see what happens.

    Clearly, based on that sentence, I’m choosing to ramble.

    Feel free to click away and read about something interesting like Tori Spelling being pregnant again.

    This week has been a slow week. After I got Caroline off to school on Monday, I spent most of the day catching up on a few things around the house. Which is a fancy way of saying I sat on the couch, checked email and took a long nap. In my defense, I stayed up way too late on Saturday night and was in the midst of an extreme sleep deficit.

    And it didn’t help that I stayed up until 1 a.m. on Sunday night watching Mad Men.

    I picked Caroline up from school that afternoon and we went straight to the grocery store because, OH MY WORD, the people that live here won’t quit talking about how they need to eat dinner and use toilet paper. So I stocked up on a fridge full of vegetables and other healthy foods because, yes, I am still on the healthy eating train. I now saute’ kale at least twice a week. I don’t even know who I am.

    I can’t even talk about the last time I had a baked potato with sour cream, cheese and butter or I’ll cry.

    Dear Carbs, I’m sorry that we’ve had to quit meeting after 4:00 p.m. Believe me when I say it’s harder on me than it is on you.

    Anyway, after we got home from the grocery store, Gulley and Will stopped by after they dropped Jackson off at baseball practice. Over the weekend, Will incurred an injury at the Little League Fields that required him to wear a leg brace for two days. Gulley told me that as soon as he saw that brace in the doctor’s office he said, “WAIT UNTIL CAROLINE SEES THIS!”

    And so, naturally, he had to come by and show it off. I told Caroline about it ahead of time and told her she needed to make sure to give him a good reaction and suggested that she could say, “OH WILL! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LEG?”

    She looked at me and said, “Mom. I’m not going to be all DRAMA about it”. Which is funny considering she doesn’t mind being ALL DRAMA about everything else. She’d come out of her bathroom just that morning to show me “a vicious bite” she had on her leg that, I KID YOU NOT, was smaller than a pencil eraser.

    But she did manage to give Will an appropriate amount of concern and sympathy and then went with them to the Little League fields to watch Jackson’s baseball game. Gulley said Will immediately took his leg brace off once he was there and seemed to experience a miraculous recovery as he and Caroline ran around buying hamburgers and snow cones and Skittles from the concession stand.

    Then yesterday I caught up on some writing and laundry and other exciting things. I met Gulley and our friend Donna for lunch. I ordered the veggie tacos. Sadly, the bell peppers were overcooked.

    And I think that the fact I just shared my overcooked bell peppers with you like it was actually an anecdote or some type of story is a sign that I just need to give it up for today. Let’s all hope tomorrow is a little more exciting.

    Or maybe you can tell me what’s going on with you. Please. It has to be more interesting than overcooked bell peppers and leg braces.

  • Politics and music

    I just told P that I had no idea what I was going to write about tonight and he said, “How is that different from every night?” I asked him why he wanted to be a hater and he told me “I’m not a hater, I’m a motivator.”

    And then we laughed hysterically.

    And now I’m sad that we have become those people.

    Anyway, last week was kind of a crazy week. I can’t remember all the reasons why, but I think it had a lot to do with third grade elections. That’s right. Third grade elections.

    Caroline came home with a note on Monday that explained each third grade class would be electing two senators and candidates for governor and lieutenant governor. She informed me that she was running for lieutenant governor. And, honestly, I was so proud of her. She never ceases to amaze me with the way she’ll just go for something.

    That’s a quality, by the way, that she didn’t really inherit from her mother. I was always more from the school of “If I don’t try, then I can’t be rejected”.

    So our week was full of campaign talk. She won the nomination for lieutenant governor in her class on Wednesday which meant that she would make a speech, along with the candidates from other classrooms, in front of the entire third grade on Friday morning.

    On Thursday the class made campaign materials and posters for the hallway. My friend Debbi had suggested the slogan “If you CARE A LOT, vote for CAROLINE”, but Caroline ended up going with “Everything will be fine, if you vote for Caroline”.

    Which we agreed was a subtle tribute to her Sicilian roots. As long as you vote for her, everything will be fine. If not, all bets are off. Things might go to hell in a hand basket in the third grade hallway.

    And so the next couple of days were filled with updates on the campaign, the need for brighter poster board and more glitter, and reports of some political trash talk in the third grade hallways. Because apparently politics are dirty business even when you’re eight.

    Then I picked her up Thursday afternoon and took her straight to the doctor because I could tell she didn’t feel good. She was crying and complaining of a sore throat. And she’d even gone to the school nurse who dismissed it as allergies. Which is the third time the school nurse has misdiagnosed my child for those of you keeping score at home.

    Sure enough, it was strep. But the doctor said she could go in and give her speech Friday morning as long as she felt like it. And I knew there was NO WAY she wasn’t going to give that speech. So I drove her to school on Friday morning and she gave her speech even though she felt terrible. After all, it’s what Ronald Reagan would have done. WWRRD.

    Later in the day we got a text from her teacher letting us know Caroline hadn’t won. And I dreaded telling her because what if this was the thing that would make her quit trying stuff? What if she lost that confidence that she can do anything? What if this marked a turning point where she’d become so fearful of rejection that she’d just stand on the sidelines while life passed her by?

    What if she’s being raised by a neurotic mother who worries too much?

    I broke the news to her gently and explained that you aren’t going to win every time. I pulled out the old “Abraham Lincoln ran for office ten times and lost before he was ever elected President”. I’m not even sure that’s true. Maybe he just lost once. Whatever. I was trying to have an IMPORTANT TEACHING MOMENT.

    Then I brought it all home with, “Baby, the surest way to lose is to never try”. She looked at me and said, “Okay. Can we play Mario Kart now?”

    And so we played Mario Kart for the next thirty minutes or so until she told me she wanted to take a break to practice playing the recorder. She proceeded to play several rounds of Hot Cross Buns while blood started to leak slowly from my ears.

    Then she looked at me and said, “I am SO GOOD at this recorder”.

    I think she’s going to be just fine.

    And just because it makes me laugh, here’s a quick video of Caroline casting her ballot after she gave her speech to her class on Wednesday. Each candidate voted and then her teacher asked them how they felt. Most kids just said a simple “I feel fine”.

    No one will ever accuse her of being quiet and shy.

  • Ten things I’ve learned since Friday

    Because it’s late. Because I still want to watch the season premiere of Mad Men before I go to bed. And because I just want to.

    Here is a list of ten things I’ve learned since Friday.

    1. There is not much sadder than watching your sick baby lie on the couch and cry about how bad she feels.

    Until she feels better enough to lie there and practice the recorder.

    2. I think part of the reason the U.S. schools are falling behind compared to other parts of the world might be that we still feel it’s important to teach eight-year-olds how to play Hot Cross Buns on the recorder.

    Shouldn’t we be teaching something they’ll actually use later in life like how to solve a venn diagram or a geometry proof?

    Oh. Wait.

    3. You should always ask for extra Reeses Peanut Butter Cups in your DQ Blizzards. They charge you more but WORTH IT.

    4. There isn’t much better than getting to hang out with friends you don’t get to see nearly enough and laugh until you think you can’t breathe.

    Photobucket

    5. And it’s even better when you all eat dinner together at Escalante’s and order the chile con queso and tableside guacamole.

    It’s a life changer.

    6. When you have to get up to take one of those friends to the airport at 7:30 the next morning you might temporarily regret the decision to stay up until 2:00 a.m. the night before.

    7. But a run to Starbucks will help you regain your will to live. And help you muster enough energy to drive home.

    8. On the drive home you will discover that nothing makes you love the state of Texas more than the highways covered in bluebonnets that just look like they’re showing off while you listen to George Strait sing Texas on your iPod.

    9. After a while you might be very indecisive about what kind of music you want to listen to until you finally realize the answer is .38 Special.

    Which will make you think REALLY? .38 Special?

    Yes. Really. Hold on loosely.

    And don’t let go.

    10. When you finally pull into your driveway, you’ll be so happy to see your people. And maybe a little sad to see all the dirty laundry they accumulated in the twenty-four hours you were away.

    But you decide they’re worth it.

  • Fashion Friday: Edition the best laid plans

    Well this has been a week.

    It all started last week with my tooth pain. And then P went to the dermatologist and had a bunch of stuff cut off. And now Caroline has strep. For the second time in a month.

    So now I’m not sure I’ll make it to Houston before Saturday. Which is fine because there’s nowhere I’d rather be than with my sick baby.

    I also thought that I was going to write more about Spring trends today but realized that I don’t really like any of the other trends and they are all vague and use terms like “Preppy Casual” and “Safari Chic” and I just want to keep it simple and tell y’all that orange is really, really in this season.

    And that’s why I’m leaving the trends with what I posted last week. Here are a few cute things I found earlier today before I picked Caroline up from school because she was sick and my whole day turned out differently than I’d planned.

    1. pucker me dress

    See? Orange. Or coral. Whatever.

    I like this dress. It’s cute, seems to be a little longer than most of these tops that are masquerading as dresses these days, and the crochet sleeves give it a little something special.

    2. colorful beaded necklace

    I love this necklace. Bright and colorful. It would make even a white t-shirt feel pretty.

    3. pick pocket dress

    I don’t think this would look good on me because I can’t really do that high neckline without things looking awkward. But I love the yellow and gray and I’m sure it would be darling on somebody paired with some cute yellow sandals.

    4. coral forever dress

    Umm. Coral. Orange. Whatever? Do you sense a trend?

    I love the lace on this. And the forgiving shape. I’m not sure about the length, but it could totally work with leggings or skinny jeans.

    5. colored skinny jeans

    If you decide to board the colored skinny jeans trend, then I am a fan of these from American Eagle Outfitters. They’re a good price, comfortable and fit well.

    Sadly, they are out of a lot of sizes online but you might have luck finding your size in the stores.

    6. minutiae dropwaist dress

    This is a little fall-ish for this time of year. But I think it would look darling with skinny jeans or leggings and boots. And it’s on sale.

    7. pintucked shirt dress

    To borrow a phrase from Janet Jackson, Gap hasn’t done much for me lately. But I went in there the other day and tried on this shirt dress and, LO AND BEHOLD, it’s really cute.

    I’d wear the white one with all turquoise accessories.

    But I also love it in the royal blue color with all silver or gold.

    That’s all I have today because I am off to medicate Caroline with antibiotics and to medicate myself with chocolate chip cookies.

    And maybe a glass of wine.

    Y’all have a good Friday.