Author: Big Mama

Monday was my day of errands as Mondays often tend to be. It took me a while to get motivated to get out of the house because I hadn’t had a chance all weekend to just sit on the couch and drink coffee while catching up on current events. And by current events, I mean what people wore to the Emmy Awards on Sunday night and watching the video clip of Jon Hamm rolling onto the stage about eleven different times.

But we are in the midst of a big project in our backyard and so once the power tools got fired up, I was motivated to get out of the house and be anywhere that didn’t involve loud noises. My first stop was a little boutique in town because I had to pick up a couple of tops for a friend and that led to me trying on a couple of things for myself. I ended up buying a really soft oversize sweater thing that I know I will live in if the temperatures ever decide to cooperate.

And then I was going to head to the grocery store next, but P called and needed me to run by City Hall to get the permit for the aforementioned backyard project. So I spent some time on that process and ended up going to the post office afterwards because there were some things I needed to mail off. Then, since I happened to be right next door to the car wash, I decided it was a good time to do something about my car. Dirty doesn’t even begin to cover the state it was in. Between driving Caroline to and from soccer four different times a week, the fact that our backyard is currently a dirt pit, and chauffeuring around Piper and Mabel, my car was where cleanliness and sanitation had gone to die.

At that point I decided to put off the grocery store just a little bit longer and ran in Ulta because I was inspired by all of your recommendations on last week’s post about beauty products. I bought three new makeup brushes because I’m ashamed to admit that the makeup brushes I was using were from a Bare Escentuals purchase I made years and years ago. It’s safe to say they had long ago fulfilled their duties. And to celebrate my new brushes, I bought some loose powder that’s supposed to make me look poreless and that feels like a move in the right direction. Then the new powder needed a new lipstick and also some new lotion because if you give a mouse a cookie and some new makeup brushes he’s going to walk out of Ulta with way more stuff than he’d planned.

I finally made it to HEB and stocked up on the essentials like wine, cheese, and York peppermint patties. Then I picked Caroline up from school, drove her to Jamba Juice for a smoothie, set the DVR to record that new show called Blind Spot (I haven’t watched it yet but it has promise to be a show P and I might both like and those shows are as elusive as Reese Witherspoon’s bangs), and then drove Caroline to soccer practice.

And now I’m back on my couch telling you about my day in excruciating detail. I can’t apologize enough.

Also I have to say that in regard to yesterday’s post about Princess Kate’s bangs, I applaud all of you who can wear bangs. I meant no disrespect to the bang wearers of the world and I am the first to believe they are a delightful alternative to Botox. It’s just that some of us (me) repeatedly think we want bangs and forget we have an unfortunate cowlick on the left side of our forehead that will make us rue the day we tried bangs for the 84th time.

I wish you all a lovely Tuesday.

So last week I noticed something happened that basically felt like confirmation of all that I am and all the delusions I’ve ever experienced.

Princess Kate cut some bangs.

In my mind I like to think that she’d been up all night with a crying Charlotte the night before and William offered to watch the kids while she went to get a pedicure. And while she was in the pedicure chair, she picked up an old US Weekly from 2011 and saw this picture of Reese Witherspoon.

The potent cocktail of hormones and bang utopia was too much, even for Princess Kate. And she drove home, grabbed a pair of scissors out her junk drawer and decided that her life would be richer and fuller if only she had bangs.

It’s happened to all of us, Kate. We’ve all been there. And we’ve all lived to regret it and google things like “How do you grow out bangs quickly?”

The problem is that Reese Witherspoon’s 2011 bangs are more elusive than a yeti. Stylists will claim that they have seen them work out perfectly, but no one has ever seen them out in the wild.

In reality, I’m sure that some high paid royal stylist cut Kate’s bangs for her but I’d say that, based on the pictures I’ve seen, it happened about a month ago and Kate immediately regretted her decision. As have all of us who have ever done the same.

Based on my extensive scientific research, it is a proven fact that bangs look great for exactly three hours on the day you first get them cut. After that, the party’s over and it’s time to break out the bobby pins.

In other news, we had a nice weekend around here. Jen and Linc came to visit and so it was great to get to spend time with them. Gulley and I continue to laugh about how much he is like Jen. The first night he was at Gulley’s house, he grabbed the bottle of Topo Chico she was drinking off the end table and said, “OH! I HAVE GOT TO HAVE SOME OF THIS!” which is exactly what Jen would do and has done to us for the last twenty-five years.

On Friday night we all went to go watch Caroline’s soccer game and then had pizza at Gulley’s house afterwards. I had to make it kind of an early night because I had a speaking thing on Saturday morning. Fortunately, my girls know my love language and so they recorded the Aggie game that started at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning so we could all watch it together. I didn’t get to Gulley’s until almost 1:00, but it’s amazing how fast you can catch up on a football game when you can fast forward through all the commercials and replays.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves even though we agreed the Aggies looked a little sloppy at times and we are a little concerned about our offensive line. But the game was never stressful to the point that it kept us from covering forty-nine other subjects while we watched. And I was so glad I remembered to get one picture of the kids before Jen and Linc headed back to Dallas.

We agreed that’s a lot of legs in that photo.

After Jen left, Caroline and I headed back to our house to meet P for dinner. We picked up Chinese food for dinner because I wasn’t hungry and that’s an optimal time to get Chinese because they love it and I’m not really a fan. And then we watched all the college football craziness that ensued throughout the evening.

On Sunday we had our Community Worship Service and then we all came back home, put on our pjs and did a whole lot of nothing. Which is really the best way to spend a Sunday.

And certainly better than deciding to cut your bangs.

I have to say that I’m always glad when it’s Friday, but I might be especially glad it’s Friday today. It’s been a long week. Caroline missed two days of school because she was sick and the whole thing has just felt a little disjointed.

Blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, here are a few things I found this week while I was home with a sick child spending time on the internet.

1. woven heart open pattern geo cardigan

I love cardigan type things like this for the fall and winter because they’re easy to throw on over a t-shirt with a pair of jeans.

2. textured knit stripe tunic

This falls in the same category. I had something like this last year and wore the heck out of it because it looked great with jeans and was long enough to wear with leggings when I really wanted to feel like I was basically in pajamas. This also comes in some other color combinations.

3. ezri pullover

Okay. I love this so much that I nearly paid full price for it last week at Anthro before it was on sale. It’s so soft and has a really cute cut. And now it’s on sale for $29.95. It also comes in blue.

4. bp trolley bootie

I really want a pair of cognac booties and that led me to these. They basically come in a ton of colors and are really cute.

5. sabine maxi dress

I’ve had my eye on this maxi dress all summer long and now it’s finally on sale. I realize it’s a little out of season right now, but it’s the kind of thing your future springtime self will thank you for having the foresight to buy.

6. long form v-neck

I nearly bought one of these last year and didn’t because it was already past long sleeve weather. But now I’m sold. The reviews are unbelievable and I love that it’s long enough to wear with leggings. It also comes in more colors.

7. hooded drawstring utility jacket

I’ve been on the search for a jacket like this and this one is a great price if you think you want one but aren’t sure how much you’d wear it.

8. casablanca embellished tunic

Every now and then I think maybe I’m done with Free People because it all starts to look the same. And then I see something like this shirt and change my mind. It’s so pretty.

9. madewell transport tote

I adore this tote. And it smells like mahogany and leather. And it also comes in black and wine.

10. 3/4 sleeve lightweight sweater

I always love seeing what Heidi has in stock at The Ikat Elephant and LOVE this sweater. It’s lightweight and fits kind of like a poncho, but with 3/4 sleeves. It looks great with jeans and booties. And you can get 10% off entire purchase with code BIGMAMA10 at checkout from now through Sunday.

That’s it for today.

Have a good Friday.

Apparently we still have a bit of an email dilemma. Those of you who weren’t receiving emails began receiving them again and, meanwhile, those of you who were doing just fine with your emails didn’t receive them anymore. We’ve launched a full investigation and it turns out that the problem lies with the flux capacitor.

Or maybe it’s something about the cache and the feed burner, but I just read the updates on the situation and think, “Huh? Well, I hope they fix it.” That’s pretty much the beginning and the end of my technical capabilities.

Anyway, one of these days it will all be okay again and that’s the important thing. This is called having your glass half full.

The truth is there isn’t much going on around here this week other than the usual. I haven’t felt great because I have a cold or allergies and attempted to run a few errands on Monday after eating breakfast with a friend and ended up feeling so run down that I walked in Target, returned a previous purchase and walked right back out without being sucked in. I don’t know that I’ve ever done that before because there is always something to look at in Target. I just didn’t have the energy.

And so given all the nothing I have to write about right now, here’s a topic for you to discuss amongst yourselves in the comments. Jen and I had this conversation when I was in Dallas last week and I’ve thought about it a couple of times since then. It’s very deep so just be prepared for that.

Here it is: When buying new makeup items, what things do you buy from a drugstore and what items do you splurge on and buy at a department store? We got on the subject because she asked if I thought my new Tarte BB cream is better than the Garnier BB cream and I really do. However, I’ve tried almost every fancy mascara and keep going back to L’Oreal. And I haven’t tried a fancy lipstick yet that seems that much better than something I can get at the grocery store. Am I doing something wrong? Have I just not tried that right things?

What are your must have makeup items both fancy and cheap? And, for extra credit and deeper discussion, do you believe good makeup brushes make a big difference?

Before we even get into anything else today, I’m hoping that I’m welcoming back all of you who subscribe by email who haven’t been receiving the blog for the last couple of weeks. We think we have fixed the problem. Actually, I think my genius internet specialist, Cathy, has fixed the problem while I basically contributed little more than sending her emails like “HELP!” and “WHAT IS HAPPENING?” and “WHY IS LIFE SO HARD?”

So if this is the first email you’ve received in two weeks then you may have some catching up to do because I’ve been writing almost every day. It’s like the old riddle goes, “If a blog falls in the forest but no one is getting their subscription, does it make a sound?”

And if you’re not getting this, then please let me know. Except you won’t know you aren’t getting it and life is nothing but a meaningless twisting in the wind.

Anyway, here’s what’s been going on around here besides frantic emails to tech support.

On Thursday I flew to Dallas. Hite, Jen and Jamie all picked me up at the airport which I can’t even do justice in less you could be in the car with us. It’s a flurry of non-stop talking about fifty-eight different subjects in a fifteen minute period of time during which we’re also group texting Gulley because she couldn’t be there and we didn’t want her to feel left out. Then we dropped Jamie off at home so she could be there when her boys got home from school and Jen, Hite and I went to pick up Jen’s little boy, Lincoln, from school.

Jen warned me that he’d be grumpy after school but I’m a little proud to report that he smiled in spite of himself when he saw me in the car which means Aunt Camp totally paid off. Linc and I picked up right where we left off and he filled me in on important things like the yogurt in his lunchbox that he didn’t like and the fact that he recently lost his stuffed dog, Nothing, in a cafe. We all went to get ice cream at Harry’s and ended up also accidentally ordering a frito pie and a chili cheese dog to share. We just felt it was important to have some protein.

After we got back to Jen’s house it was time to get ready for my event that evening and then we picked up Jamie and headed out.

It was a fun evening and I loved being in Dallas because there were so many familiar faces. And, most of all, I loved being with Jamie and Jen. We went out to eat afterwards with our friend, Casey, who’d organized the event and had the best time talking and catching up. I will say that if there is any bright side to one of your friends having cancer, it’s that you appreciate more than ever any amount of time you get to spend with them. And the truth is there is really no bright side to one of your friends having cancer. The whole thing stinks and other words that I won’t use here.

Jamie and Jen dropped me off at the airport on Friday morning and I flew back home to San Antonio. We had no plans and it was nice to just have a relaxing night with my people, especially since we had to be up early Saturday morning for the first official soccer game of the season.

And I was delighted when I walked outside Saturday morning and discovered I actually needed a light jacket. In all fairness you should know that I need a light jacket any time it gets below 78 degrees but it still felt glorious. Perfect morning for a little soccer.

Our team lost but it was a great game and then P left for the ranch with Piper and Mabel while Caroline and I enjoyed a Saturday full of college football. I also managed to clean the house and get some laundry done in between watching to see if Auburn could pull it out with Jacksonville State and if Toledo was actually going to beat Arkansas before picking up barbecue for dinner before the Aggies kicked off in the new Kyle Field against Ball State. It was a nice change of pace to watch an Aggie game without my blood pressure increasing exponentially, but I’ll be back to that place soon enough when we start playing our SEC brethren. Speaking of, I stayed up way too late to see if Mississippi State could pull the upset over LSU. (SO CLOSE)

Then Sunday after church I tried to decide between a nap and cleaning out my closet and opted for the closet clean out. I recently read another article about Marie Kondo’s organizational theories and decided to approach my closet with the intent of getting rid of any item of clothing that didn’t “spark joy”. But here’s the thing. Just because it doesn’t spark joy today doesn’t mean it might not spark joy tomorrow. Otherwise I might not have kept P around all these years.

However, I still managed to clean out a good amount of stuff while Caroline helped herself to a couple of different tops. Granted, they’re a little oversized on her but they actually work which means it may be about time to install a lock on my closet door. Except I don’t have a closet door.

And that certainly doesn’t spark joy.